Despite the chaos of 2021, the Melbourne Cup will go ahead at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November. For the trainers, it is a chance to earn a place in history and get one step closer to the one man whose name is synonymous with the race that stops a nation.
That man is Bart Cummings. Starting with Light Fingers in 1965 and capped by Viewed in 2008, he trained no fewer than 12 Melbourne Cup winners over the course of his storied career. Among Cummings’ greatest horses were Think Big, who went back-to-back in 1974 and ’75; Kingston Rule, whose record time of 3:16.30 in 1990 remains unmatched; and Saintly, who did the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup double in 1996.
Etienne de Mestre and Lee Freedman have each trained five Melbourne Cup winners, but nobody comes close to Cummings – the Cups King.
2021 Melbourne Cup Field
| No. | Silks | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Twilight Payment | Joseph O’Brien | Jye McNeil | 2 | 58kg | $11 |
| 2 |  |
Incentivise | Peter Moody | Brett Prebble | 16 | 57kg | $2.50 |
| 3 |  |
Spanish Mission | Andrew Balding | Craig Williams | 14 | 57kg | $9 |
| 4 |  |
Verry Elleegant | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 19 | 57kg | $15 |
| 5 |  |
Explosive Jack | C Maher & D Eustace | John Allen | 4 | 54kg | $51 |
| 6 |  |
The Chosen One | M Baker & A Forsman | Damian Lane | 5 | 54kg | $61 |
| 7 |  |
Delphi | A & S Freedman | Damien Oliver | 3 | 53.5kg | $41 |
| 8 |  |
Ocean Billy | Chris Waller | Damian Thornton | 13 | 53.5kg | $101 |
| 9 |  |
Selino | Chris Waller | Ron Stewart | 24 | 53.5kg | $151 |
| 10 |  |
Johnny Get Angry | Denis Pagan | Lachlan King | 22 | 53kg | $101 |
| 11 |  |
Knights Order | G Waterhouse & A Bott | Daniel Stackhouse | 9 | 53kg | $201 |
| 12 |  |
Persan | C Maher & D Eustace | Luke Currie | 11 | 53kg | $31 |
| 13 |  |
Carif | P & P Snowden | Blaike McDougall | 8 | 52.5kg | $201 |
| 14 |  |
Master Of Wine | Team Hawkes | Fred Kersley | 6 | 52.5kg | $101 |
| 15 |  |
Pondus | Robert Hickmott | Rachel King | 1 | 52.5kg | $41 |
| 16 |  |
Grand Promenade | C Maher & D Eustace | Kerrin McEvoy | 21 | 52kg | $21 |
| 17 |  |
Miami Bound | Danny O’Brien | Patrick Moloney | 17 | 52kg | $151 |
| 18 |  |
Port Guillaume | Ben & JD Hayes | Harry Coffey | 23 | 52kg | $151 |
| 19 |  |
She’s Ideel | Bjorn Baker | Craig Newitt | 20 | 52kg | $101 |
| 20 |  |
Future Score | Matt Cumani | Dean Yendall | 15 | 51.5kg | $301 |
| 21 |  |
Tralee Rose | Symon Wilde | Dean Holland | 12 | 51kg | $17 |
| 22 |  |
Floating Artist | C Maher & D Eustace | Teo Nugent | 10 | 50kg | $18 |
| 23 |  |
Great House | Chris Waller | Michael Dee | 7 | 50kg | $31 |
| 24 |  |
Sir Lucan | G Waterhouse & A Bott | Glen Boss | 18 | 50kg | $26 |
