Melbourne Cup 2026 Final Preview: Point Of Law Favourite, Trustyourinstinct Threat and Start Times by Country

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When is the Melbourne Cup, and how can I watch it around the world?

The 166th Melbourne Cup runs at Flemington in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday 3 November 2026. It is Race 7 on the Flemington card, a Group 1 handicap over 3,200 metres, for 24 runners, with 10.2 million Australian dollars in prize money, including 4.5 million dollars for the winner. Cup Day is a public holiday in metropolitan Melbourne, and the race is known in Australia as the race that stops a nation.

The scheduled start time is 15:00 Australian Eastern Daylight Time. The race is often run a few minutes after the hour, so treat 15:00 as the scheduled time, not a guarantee to the second. The times below convert that start for the main markets. For most readers outside Australia, this is a Monday night or a very early Tuesday morning race, which is why the Cup has its famous alarm clock reputation.

| Melbourne Cup | Local time | | Flemington, Melbourne AEDT, Tuesday 3 November | 15:00 | | London GMT, Tuesday 3 November | 04:00 | | Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam CET, Tuesday 3 November | 05:00 | | New York, Toronto EST, Monday 2 November | 23:00 | | Los Angeles PST, Monday 2 November | 20:00 | | Karachi PKT, Tuesday 3 November | 09:00 |

Check local listings for television coverage in your country, because Cup broadcast rights vary by market and this post does not claim a single global channel. In Australia, Nine covered the barrier draw live, and the Cup is a free to air event. For readers in the UK, Europe and North America, the early morning and late night times above are the key planning detail, because the race itself lasts only about three and a half minutes, and there is no second chance to catch it live.

Who is favourite for the Melbourne Cup?

Point Of Law is the favourite. The Ciaron Maher trained import, ridden by Ethan Brown, drew barrier nine, carries 53 kilograms, and was quoted at about 6 dollars to 7 dollars after the draw, with one market listing him at 6.50 dollars. He became favourite after winning the Geelong Cup on his Australian debut, over 2,400 metres, which earned him a guaranteed Cup start and a 2 kilogram penalty that lifted his weight to 53 kilograms.

If Point Of Law wins on only his sixth career start, he will be the most lightly raced Cup winner of the modern era, according to races.com.au analysis quoted in weekend previews. That is a remarkable stat for a favourite, because the Melbourne Cup is usually won by a battle hardened stayer with a long season behind him, not by a horse having only his sixth start. The counter argument is that Point Of Law has already shown he can lead and win over 2,400 metres at Geelong, and his barrier draw is, in Maher's own words reported after the draw, ideal.

The main danger, in the betting and in most previews, is Trustyourinstinct. The Joseph O'Brien trained stayer, ridden by James McDonald, drew barrier 18, carries 57 kilograms, and was quoted at 7.50 dollars. He won the Curragh Cup over 2,820 metres in July, and he is rated by one leading previewer as the top pick in the race, ahead of the favourite, on the strength of his Curragh Cup win and his position at the top of that previewer's ratings. O'Brien has five runners in the race, and Trustyourinstinct is his leading hope.

Who are the other leading chances?

The betting behind the top two is tightly packed, and the table below lists the leading six in the market, with their barriers, weights, jockeys and trainers, from Racing Australia's final field.

| Horse | Barrier | Weight | Jockey | Trainer | Market | | Point Of Law | 9 | 53 kg | Ethan Brown | Ciaron Maher | About 6.50 dollars | | Trustyourinstinct | 18 | 57 kg | James McDonald | Joseph O'Brien | About 7.50 dollars | | Hopewell Rock | 15 | 54.5 kg | Zac Lloyd | George Boughey | About 10 dollars | | Shockletz | 17 | 51 kg | Harry Coffey, in doubt | Ciaron Maher | About 11 dollars | | Juja Kibo | 14 | 55 kg | Sam Clipperton | Ciaron Maher | About 12 dollars | | Middle Earth | 1 | 56.5 kg | Mark Zahra | Ciaron Maher | About 13 dollars |

Hopewell Rock, trained by George Boughey and ridden by Zac Lloyd, makes his Australian debut after a narrow second to Daiquiri Bay in the Ebor Handicap over 2,787 metres at York. He is the international stayer with the strongest recent form over a staying trip, even though he has not yet tried 3,200 metres.

Shockletz, trained by Maher and carrying just 51 kilograms, won the Group 3 Archer Stakes over 2,500 metres at Flemington, but her rider is in doubt. Harry Coffey fell from Pondalowie in the Empire Rose Stakes on Derby Day, and the Victorian Jockeys Association said he had a suspected fractured collarbone and was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital for scans. Riders can still change before Tuesday, including the Shockletz booking, so check the final declarations before the race if you are following her.

Juja Kibo, trained by Maher and ridden by Sam Clipperton, won the Group 1 Metropolitan over 2,400 metres on 3 October and the Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup over 2,500 metres on 24 October, and he goes for a hat trick from barrier 14 with 55 kilograms. The extra 700 metres to 3,200 metres is the question for him, as it is for several of the leading chances.

Middle Earth, trained by Maher and ridden by Mark Zahra, drew the inside gate, barrier one, and Zahra will chase his fourth Melbourne Cup victory. Middle Earth finished third in last year's Cup, so he has already proved he can run the trip and handle the occasion, which is more than most of the field can say.

What does the barrier draw change?

The barrier draw, confirmed at Flemington after Victoria Derby Day on Saturday, is the single biggest talking point before Tuesday, because it gave the favourite a kind draw and several dangers wide draws. Point Of Law drew barrier nine, which Maher called ideal. Barrier nine last produced a winner with Efficient in 2007, so it is not a golden gate, but it is a middle draw that gives Brown options: he can lead, or he can sit just behind the leaders, without being trapped on the rail or dragged wide.

At the other end, James J Braddock drew barrier 24, the outside gate, for O'Brien and Craig Williams, on his first Australian start, after finishing third in the Epsom Derby earlier this year. The last winner from barrier 24 was Gala Supreme in 1973, so history is against him, even though he is a high class horse. Wine Dark Sea drew barrier 23, Vauban drew barrier 22, and Royal Supremacy drew barrier 21, so four of O'Brien's five runners drew in the widest seven gates, which is cruel luck for a trainer with a strong hand.

Two barrier stats are worth knowing, with the usual warning that history is a guide, not a rule. Barrier 11 is the joint most successful barrier in Cup history, with nine winners, and Zahrann, trained by Maher and ridden by Ben Melham, drew barrier 11 with 54.5 kilograms. Barrier 18, where Trustyourinstinct will jump from, has long been the only barrier not to produce a Cup winner, according to Sportstralia's count of past winners. That stat will be quoted all day on Tuesday if Trustyourinstinct is travelling well in the final 400 metres, and it will be forgotten completely if he wins.

Six of the last eight winners started from double figure barriers, so a wide draw is not a death sentence in the modern Cup. Quality stayers have won from both ends of the draw, and the speed map matters more than the gate number alone.

How will the race be run?

With Defiantly scratched, after O'Brien lost his main hope to a hoof abscess, the speed map has Point Of Law as the most likely leader from barrier nine. He led and won the Geelong Cup that way, and Brown can repeat that tactic if he wants to. Wine Dark Sea, Kizlyar and Goodie Two Shoes should push forward from wide gates, with Enfjaar handy from barrier eight. So You Are, the Bendigo Cup winner ridden by Rachel King from barrier seven, and Future History from barrier 12, should be next in line.

That shape suits Point Of Law, because he will not have to work too hard to get to the front, and it suits the swoopers too, because a genuine early pace over 3,200 metres usually brings the closers into play late. The danger for the leader is that he sets the race up for a horse sitting just behind him, and the danger for the closers is that they leave it too late on a track where the home straight at Flemington is long but the field is 24 wide.

The distance question is the other great unknown. Only six horses in this field have won at 3,200 metres or further: Knight's Choice, who won this race in 2024, Kizlyar, who won the Ascot Stakes over about 4,000 metres in June, Vauban, Goodie Two Shoes, Onesmoothoperator and Soul Of Spain. Trustyourinstinct has not tried the trip yet. His best is the 2,820 metre Curragh Cup. Juja Kibo's best is 2,500 metres. Hopewell Rock's best is 2,787 metres. Point Of Law's best is 2,400 metres. In other words, most of the market leaders are trying 3,200 metres for the first time, or for the first time at this level, which is why the Cup is so hard to pick and so popular to bet on.

What about the old winners and the trainers?

Knight's Choice, the 2024 winner, drew barrier two, with Robbie Dolan retaining the ride, as he attempts to become the first dual winner since Makybe Diva completed her famous hat trick in 2005. The problem for Knight's Choice is form: he finished 14th of 18 in the Caulfield Cup on 17 October, beaten 10 lengths, so he needs to find a very different performance on Tuesday.

Ciaron Maher has seven runners in the field, the most of any trainer: Point Of Law, Middle Earth, Royal Supremacy, Juja Kibo, Zahrann, Mr Monaco and Shockletz. Joseph O'Brien has five: Sons And Lovers, Trustyourinstinct, Goodie Two Shoes, James J Braddock and Kizlyar. Sons And Lovers is topweight at 57.5 kilograms, drawn barrier three, ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle. Goodie Two Shoes, last year's runner up, drew barrier 19, ridden by Wayne Lordan.

Between them, Maher and O'Brien train 12 of the 24 runners, which is half the field. That is why Tuesday is as much a trainers race as a horses race. Maher has the favourite and the numbers. O'Brien has the topweight, the second favourite, and the international raiding party. One of them will almost certainly train the winner, and the other will spend the week explaining what went wrong.

For readers who followed the Breeders Cup at Keeneland last weekend, the Melbourne Cup is a very different test. The Breeders Cup Classic was run over 1,800 metres on dirt, in about two minutes, by a seven horse field. The Melbourne Cup is run over 3,200 metres on turf, in about three and a half minutes, by 24 horses, with a handicap that gives the lightest horse, Shockletz on 51 kilograms, a 6.5 kilogram advantage over the topweight. It is a staying handicap, not a championship sprint, and that is why it stops a nation.

Related live posts: Sovereignty Wins the Breeders Cup Classic, Retires a Champion, and the Melbourne Cup Field Is Set, and Breeders Cup Saturday: Hughes Is the Derby Favourite, Magnitude Is Out and the Classic Field Is Seven.

Sources: Racing Australia via Sporting Base, Melbourne Cup 2026 Barrier Draw: Point Of Law Draws 9, 1 November 2026; Racing Australia via Just Horse Racing and Ladbrokes, Melbourne Cup Field 2026, 31 October 2026; HowToSimply, Melbourne Cup 2026: the favourite and the field, 2 November 2026; QTR Blog, Melbourne Cup 2026 Preview: Field, Barriers and My Top Pick, updated 1 November 2026; RG.org, Melbourne Cup 2026 Preview: Field, Barriers, Start Time, Best Bets, 1 November 2026; FreeTips, Melbourne Cup 2026 Betting Odds: Point Of Law favourite, 31 October 2026; Sportstralia, Melbourne Cup 2026 Barrier Draw: Final Field, Gates and Jockeys, 1 November 2026.