2024 Melbourne Cup Hurdle Draw

Favorite Buckaroo plays gate number 21, Vauban is lucky with number 11.

HORSE RACING: The Hurdle draw for this year’s Lexus Melbourne Cup has been announced. Betting favorite Buckaroo contested the No. 21 hurdle, producing five Cup winners, most recently Vow and Declare in 2019.

Overseas raider Vauban will be out of barrier 11 – the most successful of the eight Cup winners – while in-form Jamie Ka will take Okita Sushi out of barrier 10.

Vauban was the favorite in 2023 and a draw would not harm the import this time.

Last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Without A Fight crashed out of barrier 16, which will be contested in mostly cloudy conditions this time around.

The other big winner in the hurdles was Trust In You, who pulled out the No. 5 hurdle, considered the second most successful hurdle in Melbourne Cup history.

Here’s how each horse will line up for the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday at Flemington Racecourse.

MELBOURNE CUP 2024 BARRIER DRAW

1. VAUBAN (11 years old) – Willie Mullins – William Buick – 55.5 kg

2 – BACCAROU (21) – Chris Waller – Joao Moreira – 54.5 kg

3 – CIRCLE OF FIRE (24) – Ciaron Maher – Mark Zara – 54.5 kg

4 – DWARPA SPEED (3) – Noboru Takagi – Akira Sugawara – 54.5 kg

5 – KOWALIKA (17) – Chris Waller – Damian Lane – 53.5 kg

6 – SHARP ‘N’ SMART (15) – G&D Rogerson – Michael Dee – 53.5 kg

7 – JUST FINE (13) – J. Waterhouse and A. Bott – Jai McNeil – 53 kg

8 – LAND LEGEND (18) – Chris Waller – Zach Purton – 53 kg

9 – ABSURD (7) – Willie Mullins – Kerryn McAvoy – 52.5 kg

10 – ATHABASCAN (2) – Joe O’Shea and T. Charlton – Zach Lloyd – 52 kg

11 – KNIGHT’S CHOICE (6) – Jay Simons and S Lacson – Robbie Dolan – 51.5 kg

12 – OKITA SUSHI (10) – Ciaron Maher – Jamie Ka – 51 kg

13 – ONESMOOTHOPERATOR (12) – B Ellison – Craig Williams – 51 kg

14 – ZARDOZI (4) – James Cummings – Andrea Atzeni – 51 kg

15 – SEA KING (1) – Harry Eustace – Holly Doyle 50 kg

16 – VALIANT KING (22) – Chris Waller – Craig Newitt – 50.5 kg

17 – FANCY MAN (19) – Neesham and R. Archibald – Ron Stewart – 50 kg

18 – INTERPRETATION (14) – Ciaron Maher – Theo Nugent – ​​50kg

19 – MANZOIS (8) – Chris Waller – Tyler Schiller – 50 kg

20 – MOSTLY CLOUDY (16) – T. Busuttin and N. Young – Karis Titan – 50 kg

21 – POSITIVITY (20) – Andrew Forsman – Winona Costin – 50 kg

22 – ST GEORGE (9) – Ciaron Maher – to be confirmed – 50 kg

23 – MAP (23) – D Clarken and O McGillivray – Rachel King – 50kg

24 – TRUST YOU (5) – B. Wallace and J. Cooksley – Mark Du Plessis – 50 kg