Hours away from major Melbourne Cup call

The barrier draw will take place at around 6pm (AEDT) on Saturday at Flemington after the Victoria Derby Day races have all been run.Catch all the action from the Melbourne Spring Carnival LIVE on Racing.com, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >There’s no way of knowing just yet exactly which 24 horses will make up the field for the race that stops the nation on Tuesday, but the experts at punters.com.au have a pretty good idea and have laid out the likely runners below based on the current order of entry.There were 35 fourth acceptors for the race but that number decreased when Irish raider Away He Goes was rubbed out because of injury, while there’s speculation Forgot You won’t be lining up again after Saturday’s Victoria Derby.There will be extra interest in the G3 Lexus Stakes to find out which horse will be granted a Melbourne Cup ballot exemption for winning Saturday afternoon’s 2500m race.Incentivise is the red-hot Melbourne Cup favourite at $2.30 with the TAB, while Spanish Mission has firmed into $6 and Twilight Payment is also being favoured by punters at $11. The Melbourne Cup is scheduled to be run at 3pm (AEDT) on Tuesday November 2.cup covidLikely Melbourne Cup field 2021 (horse, trainer)1 — INCENTIVISE, Peter G Moody2 — GRAND PROMENADE (GB), Ciaron Maher & David Eustace3 — VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ), Chris Waller4 — TWILIGHT PAYMENT (IRE), Joseph O’Brien5 — SPANISH MISSION (USA), Andrew Balding6 — EXPLOSIVE JACK (NZ), Ciaron Maher & David Eustace7 — JOHNNY GET ANGRY (NZ), Denis Pagan8 — THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ), Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman9 — SELINO (GB), Chris Waller10 — MIAMI BOUND (NZ), Danny O’Brien11 — SHE’S IDEEL, Bjorn Baker12 — OCEAN BILLY (NZ), Chris Waller13 — DELPHI (IRE), Anthony & Sam Freedman14 — PERSAN, Ciaron Maher & David Eustace15 — KNIGHTS ORDER (IRE), Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott16 — TRALEE ROSE (NZ), Symon Wilde17 — CARIF, Peter & Paul Snowden18 — PONDUS (GB), Robert Hickmott19 — MASTER OF WINE (GER), Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes20 — PORT GUILLAUME (FR), Ben & JD Hayes21 — FUTURE SCORE (IRE), Matt Cumani22 — FUN FACT, Bjorn Baker23 — SIR LUCAN (IRE), Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott24 — GREAT HOUSE (IRE), Chris WallerFringe horses25 — FLOATING ARTIST (GB), Ciaron Maher & David Eustace26 — HASTA LA WAR, Sue Murphy27 — AMADE (IRE), Phillip Stokes28 — CONSTANTINOPLE (IRE), Aaron Purcell29 — EMISSARY (GB), Michael Moroney30 — KING’S CHARISMA (IRE), Ciaron Maher & David Eustace31 — MANKAYAN (IRE), Ciaron Maher & David Eustace32 — TOORADIN, Ciaron Maher & David EustaceHorse deathsThe favouritesIncentivise — $2.30Spanish Mission — $6Twilight Payment — $11Verry Elleegant — $13Grand Promenade — $15Tralee Rose — $15Floating artist — $17Sir Lucan — $17 Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au