If you are interested in the Melbourne Cup and want to learn more about Melbourne Cup horses, you have come to the right place. Read on to find more about the fascinating world of Melbourne Cup favourites and Melbourne Cup runners participating in the “Race that Stops a Nation.”

Melbourne Cup 2019 favourites – 3 horses to watch

The pinnacle of horse racing events in Australia, the Melbourne Cup, is a Thoroughbred handicap race for three-year-olds or over, ran on the Flemington race track (3,200m) on the first Tuesday in November. The horses are qualified based on a handicap – the minimum required weight is 49 kilograms, and even though there is no maximum allocated weight, the highest should not be less than 57 kilograms.

Between 300 and 400 horses participate in the Melbourne Cup field, and the committee selects the final 24 Melbourne Cup horses that will start the race. The popularity of this event gives Melbourne Cup horses celebrity status and three horses are seen as the biggest Melbourne Cup favourites this year. Keep on reading to find out more about the biggest contenders to win the 2019 Melbourne Cup.

Cross Counter (GB)

• Age: 4
• Jockey: TBA
• Weight: TBA
• Trainer: Charlie Appleby

Cross Counter, owned by Godolphin, was the winner of the 2018 Melbourne Cup, which is why he is a prominent betting favourite this year, as well. The four-year-old gelding, who has Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector, both legendary 20th-century sires of sires in his lineage, has 3 major wins in his career. He was the winner of Gordon Stakes and the Melbourne Cup in 2018, and Dubai Gold Cup in 2019. In the last year’s Melbourne Cup his handicap was 51 kg (or 8-0) and his jockey was the renowned Kerrin McEvoy who has two Melbourne Cup wins under his belt. Having won the Dubai Gold Cup in March 2019, he appears to be in excellent form so it will be exciting to see whether he can defend his Melbourne Cup title come November.

Avilius (GB)

• Jockey: TBA
• Weight: TBA
• Age: 5
• Trainer: James Cummings

Another top contender among Melbourne Cup horses is Avilius, a 5-year-old gelding from the UK trained by James Cummings and owned by Godolphin. He has started 18 races and finished first in ten of them. He has three wins in 2,000m races, two in 1,600m and 1,900m, and one in 1,800m, 2,400m, and 2,500m. He was first trained in France and managed to take two wins there, but reached his true potential in Australia where he recorded the other eight wins, which is why he is one of the top Melbourne Cup favourites.

Finche (GB)

• Jockey: TBA
• Weight: TBA
• Age: 5
• Trainer: Chris Waller

The five-year-old stallion sired by the champion Frankel (GBR) and out of the dam Binche (USA) was foaled on February 22, 2014. As one of the Melbourne Cup favourites, he managed to finish in fourth place at the 2018 Melbourne Cup, after Cross Counter, Marmelo, and Prince of Arran. His trainer Chris Waller had outstanding success with Winx, who was the world’s highest ranked filly and the world’s highest-ranked turf horse at the same time. He believes that Finche is a strong contender among the Melbourne Cup runners this year as he appears in excellent form, which is why he hopes his horse places in top three come November 5, 2019.

Melbourne Cup 2019 Runners

It is always useful to know the favourites when it comes to horse racing, but the Melbourne Cup history has also taught us that they usually do not fare rather well. In the past ten years, only one favourite has managed to win – Fiorente in 2013, and only one horse has managed to take three wins in a row – Makybe Diva in 2002, 2003, and 2004.   

On the other hand, there is Prince of Penzance, who was an outsider and definitely not one of the Melbourne Cup favourites. He started the race at 100/1 in 2015, managed to win and become known as one of the legendary Melbourne Cup horses. This is why we have compiled a list of ten more Melbourne Cup runners to look out for in 2019.