The winner of today's Geelong Cup earns a ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup, and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott's The Euphrates heads the market.
A start in the Melbourne Cup is on the line at Geelong this afternoon. The Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m, $500,000) is one of the two remaining races whose winner earns a ballot exemption into the Cup on Tuesday, 3 November. The other is Saturday's Moonee Valley Gold Cup, being run at Flemington this year.
The Euphrates the one to beat
The Euphrates was first emergency for last Saturday's Caulfield Cup and didn't get a run, which left Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott to find another path to Flemington. He sits 29th in the Cup order of entry, so a win today would remove any doubt.
The former Aidan O'Brien stayer won the Kingston Town Stakes over 2000m at Randwick in September, then ran third behind Juja Kibo in The Metropolitan over 2400m on 3 October. Blake Shinn rides from barrier 7, and he's the market favourite.
Others to note
- Vauban (barrier 11, Jordan Childs) – the stablemate carries top weight of 60.5kg first-up since running third in the Doomben Cup in May. He is already well placed in the Melbourne Cup order of entry, so this is a lead-up run.
- Point Of Law (barrier 17, Ethan Brown) – Ciaron Maher's import makes his Australian debut. He won the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket in July and has won two of his four starts.
- Torranzino (barrier 15, Celine Gaudray) – last year's Geelong Cup winner is back to defend his title.
- Small Fry (barrier 12, Kerrin McEvoy) and Omni Man (barrier 14, Beau Mertens) – two of Joseph O'Brien's spring team. Both sit well back in the Cup order of entry and need a win to change that.
The punting angle
Remember that some runners need to win and others are just using the race as a lead-up. Vauban is already safely in the Cup and carries the big weight, so a solid run without winning would still be a tick for Flemington. For The Euphrates, today is about getting into the Cup. If he wins well over 2400m, expect him to shorten in Melbourne Cup betting. Keep in mind that 3200m is a different test again.
The Geelong Cup is scheduled for 4:10pm AEDT. For past Cup results, see our Melbourne Cup results page.
FREE: The 2026 Melbourne Cup Guide – the clues that find Cup winners, our betting plan and the horses to watch.