The 2023 Melbourne Cup is almost upon us, with the final field to be revealed this Saturday afternoon (November 4).

The order of entry for the race that stops the nation is determined by the weights assigned to each runner by a handicapper. The bigger the weight, the more likely the horse is to make the final field.

After Interpretation claimed the Bendigo Cup on Wednesday, moving up the order based on prize money but remaining at 50kg, 29 horses remain in the running for a spot, with the 2022 Cup runner the last one in.

The top 24 horses that are still in the ballot after final declarations on November 4 will make up the Melbourne Cup field.

As always, there will be horses currently in the top 24 that will be withdrawn from the race in the coming days due to injury or poor form. On Monday the connections of eight horses took their runners out of contention, including the now-retired Lunar Flare, who suffered a career-ending injury in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup last Friday.

Fancy Man and Hasta La War were withdrawn on Wednesday, the latter after failing to win the Bendigo Cup, while King Frankel who was 21st in the ballot order has also withdrawn.

Essentially, the owners who pay the final declaration fee on November 4 are signalling their intent to run their horse in the Cup.

There are three horses still in the ballot who have earned automatic entry into the field by winning Melbourne Cup exemption races. Those are indicated on the list below with the 1= next to their name.

For those horses on the outside looking in, there is one more ballot exemption race to be run which acts as a final throw of the stumps. That is the Lexus Archer Stakes (previously known as the Hotham Handicap), named after the first winner of the Melbourne Cup.

Under the provision that he/she is still in the order of entry, the winner of this Saturday’s Lexus Archer Stakes will be ensured of a start in the great race.

Ladies Man (25th), Athabascan (26th), United Nations (27th) and Kalapour (28th) are all horses outside the top 24 that will likely have a final throw at the stumps in the Archer.

Hasta La War (was 29th) and Interpretation (was 31st) tackled the Bendigo Cup on Wednesday, with the latter winning by a nose.

Source: Fox Sports