Melbourne Cup hub: Second favourite OUT of race

The Melbourne Cup’s second favourite Saint George is OUT of the famous race!

After chatting with owner Ozzie Kheir, Gareth Hall has confirmed that Saint George passed the trot up for the Cup, however, did not pass the PET scan.

This means that Saint George is out of the Melbourne Cup and will not race again this spring.

Juja Kibo gained a spot in the $10 million 2026 Melbourne Cup (3200m) by virtue of an explosive win in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) at Flemington on Saturday.

The Ciaron Maher-trained stayer is among six runners who have gained a ballot exempt entry to the Cup - the others are Defiantly (Joseph O'Brien), Point Of Law, Mr Monaco and Shockletz (both Ciaron Maher), and Zakouma (Grahame Begg).

Juja Kibo has been hit with a 1.5kg penalty after his win on the weekend and will now carry 55kg.

Maher has 10 runners in the mix, UK-based Joseph O'Brien has eight, and Chris Waller has five.

There are 39 runners remaining after connections opted to scrap Cup plans for Waller's Aeliana following her third in the Cox Plate.

See below the latest order of entry below:

Alphabetical order below:

1 Asterix (NZ) (Chris Waller)
2 Defiantly (FR) (Joseph O'Brien)
3 Enfjaar (IRE) (Roger Varian)
4 Future History (GB) (Gregory Hickman)
5 Goodie Two Shoes (IRE) (Joseph O'Brien)
6 Hopewell Rock (IRE) (George Boughey)
7 James J Braddock (GB) (Joseph O'Brien)
8 Jennivamoose (NZ) (Ciaron Maher)
9 Juja Kibo (IRE) (Ciaron Maher)
10 King Pedro (NZ) (John O'Shea & Tom Charlton)
11 Kings Valley (IRE) (Ciaron Maher)
12 Kizlyar (IRE) (Joseph O'Brien)
13 Knight's Choice (John Symons & Sheila Laxon)
14 Litzdeel (Danny O'Brien)
15 Manzor Blue (NZ) (Lisa Latta)
16 Middle Earth (GB) (Ciaron Maher)
17 Mr Monaco (GB) (Ciaron Maher)
18 Omni Man (IRE) (Joseph O'Brien)
19 Onesmoothoperator (USA) (Tim Fitzsimmons)
20 Pinhole (GB) (Chris Waller)
21 Point Of Law (GB) (Ciaron Maher)
22 Royal Supremacy (IRE) (Ciaron Maher)
23 Saint George (GB) (Ciaron Maher) - Did not qualify
24 Shockletz (NZ) (Ciaron Maher)
25 Small Fry (IRE) (Joseph O'Brien)
26 So You Are (Bjorn Baker)
27 Sons And Lovers (GB) (Joseph O'Brien)
28 Soul Of Spain (IRE) (Chris Waller)
29 Soulcombe (GB) (Chris Waller)
30 Stinger Glass (JPN) (Yasuo Tomomichi)
31 Strictly Business (Thomas Carberry)
32 The Euphrates (GB) (Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott)
33 Torranzino (NZ) (Paul Preusker)
34 Trustyourinstinct (IRE) (Joseph O'Brien)
35 Valiant King (GB) (Chris Waller)
36 Vauban (FR) (Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott)
37 Wine Dark Sea (GB) (Harry Charlton)
38 Zahrann (IRE) (Ciaron Maher)
39 Zakouma (Grahame Begg)

Read about some of the main chances below:

Juja Kibo

The talented stayer also out of the Maher stable who impressively won the Group 2 Metropolitan at Randwick before coming from the rear of the field to win the Gold Cup in fine fashion.

A very strong lightweight hope for the race that stops the nation.

Mr Monaco

After winning the Group 3 Lexus Bart Cummings, Mr Monaco has stamped himself into Cup conversations as one of the key chances.

The imported gelding was far too strong for his opposition at Flemington on October 3 and now will incur a 1.5kg penalty for the Melbourne Cup.

Mr Monaco loomed to win the Gold Cup last Saturday before finishing third behind stablemates Juja Kibo and King's Valley. A nice Cup tune up.

Point Of Law

The talented import won the Geelong Cup (2400m) with an impressive first-up win on Australian soil.

The northern hemisphere three-year-old (four in Australian racing) is the current $6.50 favourite on the back of that win.

Ciaron Maher has a strong team on his hands.

Trustyourinstinct

One of Joseph O’Brien’s travelling cohort of seriously good stayers.

This guy saluted in the Group 2 Curragh Cup (2816m) - the same race O’Brien’s two Cup winners Rekindling and Twilight Payment won en route to Cup glory.

Will have to carry 57kg but he’s in the right stable.

Saint George

Another of Ciaron Maher’s runners who has had a good preparation, running second in the Naturalism (2000m), second in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and fifth in the Cox Plate (2040m).

He ran second last in the 2024 Cup, but is going much better this time around. Currently the third favourite at $9 with Sportsbet.

Shockletz

Taking out the Archer Stakes in flying fashion, the five-year-old Ciaron Maher trained mare now has cemented herself in the Melbourne Cup market.

Maher credited the major victory to the application of blinkers for the first time in her 18-start career. The gear changes obviously proved successful putting over two lengths on the crafty field.

She then tuned up for the Cup with a lovely second behind Soverato in the Tesio Stakes (2040m) at Flemington on Cox Plate Day.

The daughter of 2009 winner Shocking.

Royal Supremacy

After scoring in the Group 3 JRA Cup (2000m) at Caulfield, Royal Supremacy has once again entered the Cups conversation.

He ran 15th of 18 in the Caulfield Cup, beaten 17 lengths.

Wine Dark Sea

The four-year-old gelding trained by Harry Charlton in the United Kingdom has arrived in Melbourne ahead of a Melbourne Cup campaign.

His talent was on display in the Group 3 Highclere Thoroughbreds Racing Geoffrey Freer Stakes (2671m) at Newbury in August, as he won in impressive fashion.

Horses like Mount Athos (2012) and Furthur (2025) won this race, then consequently targeted the Melbourne Cup – illustrated the viable Cups path it provides stayers.

Wine Dark Sea ran 11th in the Caulfield Cup after sitting on the speed from a wide draw.

James J Braddock

Craig Williams has taken the ride on Joseph O’Brien’s star stayer for the Lexus Melbourne Cup.

Although he is nominated for the Caulfield Cup on October 17, O’Brien is programming the preparation purely around a Melbourne Cup berth for the Stallion.

His key victory came in the Derby Trial Stakes at Group 3 level in Leopardstown, following in the footsteps of Anthony Van Dyck (2020) who took this route toward a Melbourne Cup.

Goodie Two Shoes

Another Joseph O’Brien trained mare is returning to Melbourne in the coming weeks before looking to go one better after last year’s prominent Melbourne Cup performance.

She had a brave win in the Group 2 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood last month, looking destined to once again run well at Flemington.

Defiantly

The fast-running stayer, who won the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay at Deauville in France on August 23, has firmed as one of the favourites for the Cup.

This race has proved an incredibly serviceable lead-up run towards a Melbourne Cup with past winners Protectionist, Dunaden and Americain using it as a springboard towards ultimate success at Flemington.

He is trained by Joseph O’Brien who has a knack for the Melbourne Cup having two winners already to his name with Rekindling (2016) and Twilight Payment (2020).

Hopewell Rock

An English gelding that has the genuine profile of a Melbourne Cup winner trained by George Boughey.

Hopewell Rock ran fantastically in The Ebor (approximately 2800) at York Racecourse, narrowly missing out on the win in a tight finish.

The Ebor is England’s most significant handicap, and a genuine runway to the Melbourne Cup.

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