The Melbourne Cup is drawing closer with 40 horses still in contention.
A total of 40 horses remain in the hunt for the Melbourne Cup following the third round of declarations that closed on Monday.
The final field for the $10 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 4 will be announced at the conclusion of the Victoria Derby Day meeting on Saturday.
At the same stage last year, 35 horses remained in the hunt for a start in the Melbourne Cup.
Of the 40 remaining, 11 international stayers, including the first American-trained galloper to run in the Cup, Parchment Party, are in contention.
Two-time Cup winning trainer Joseph O'Brien has Al Riffa and Goodie Two Shoes while there is representation from the UK, France, Germany and Japan, all countries that have supplied winners in the past.
One of the international contingent is Onesmoothoperator who won the Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) on Friday night.
Onesmoothoperator finished 12th in last year's Melbourne Cup and earned himself a ballot exemption with his victory in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup.
Racing Victoria's Head of Handicapping, David Hegan, penalised Onesmoothoperator 1kg for his win on Friday night, lifting his weight to 53kg in the Melbourne Cup.
Hegan decided again rehandicapping Torranzino for his win in another ballot exempt race, the Geelong Cup (2400m), last Thursday in which he scored narrowly over The King's horse Gilded Water who was a noticeable omission from the Melbourne Cup third declarations.
Caulfield Cup winner Half Yours, prepared by Tony and Calvin Mcevoy, headlines the local horses as he strives to become the 13th horse to complete the Cups double.
Cox Plate winning trainer Chris Waller has eight horses remaining among the 40, including Buckaroo following his courageous second to Via Sistina at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Waller also has Valiant King and River Of Stars who filled the placings behind Half Yours at Caulfield as he seeks a second Melbourne Cup following Verry Elleegant's win in 2021.
Ciaron Maher has five runners still in contention with Middle Earth and Smokin' Romans safely in the field of 24 while Royal Supremacy is number 24 in the ballot order.
Mark Twain, Birdman, Post Impressionist and Scary are numbers 25, 26, 27 and 28 respectively and remain a chance of securing a berth ahead of the acceptance deadline on Saturday.
Sydney Cup winner Arapaho, safely in the Melbourne Cup field, will have his final lead up in the Bendigo Cup (2400m) on Wednesday while there are four runners – Interpretation (33), Don Diego De Vega (34), Sayedaty Sadaty (35) and Quietness (38) – that sit outside the safety limit for the Melbourne Cup who will be hoping to improve their positions in the ballot order with a victory.
