2026 Melbourne Cup: Follow all the action at Australian racing’s showpiece event

It’s race No.4 at Flemington, and a brilliantly timed run from Zac Lloyd sees Peyton take the win ahead of Fovea and Strike Package.

Fovea looked odds-on for victory having led for most of the race as they came down the straight, but Lloyd had a clear run on the outside and charged over the top to pip the filly by about half a head.

Strike Package was also closing fast but left it just a touch late to finish third.

It’s a good ride from Lloyd, who will be at the helm of Melbourne Cup favourite Hopewell Rock later today.

“We needed every bit of that Flemington straight. Credit to my bloke, he dug in and chased them to the line,” he said.

The veteran trainer said a simple mistake was to blame attributing it to the pressure of race day.

“The horse gets the same treatment every day, it’s a very basic liniment most stables use and I guess the pressure of race day, the person that looks after the horse, put it on his legs right in front of the security guard, nothing to hide,” he said.

“Nothing was hidden, the security guard was right there, as soon as it happened we knew there was a problem.

“I’ve got to wear the responsibility, it’s my team. It’s rare for us to make mistakes but the pressure of raceday, everyone is on edge on Melbourne Cup Day and you think a little bit differently.”

We’ve just seen the third of our early races at Flemington - so which jockeys have already experienced that winning feeling on Cup day ahead of the big one?

Damian Lane saluted on $8 prospect Amelia’s Affair in the opening race. Lane is on $35 shot Wine Dark Sea in the Melbourne Cup.

Race 2 was won by Jordan Childs on board $3.60 favourite Yauson. He’ll ride $46 long shot Vauban in the Cup.

Dean Yendall steered $11 hope Billycart to victory in Race 3 - and he’s on an even longer prospect in the Melbourne Cup in $51 outsider Strictly Business.

Running a sweep in the office today?

Download your sweep chart right here! (Just remember to cross out Asterix, the aforementioned late scratching)

Today’s track at Flemington has been graded as a Soft 5.

We’ve thankfully got favourable weather for today’s action, with a forecast of sunny and a top of 17C in Melbourne.

If you’ve drawn Asterix in your Melbourne Cup office sweep... you might want to see if you can have another go.

The $61 outsider has been scratched from today’s field by stewards’ order.

“Acting on a report from the Racing Victoria Compliance Assurance Team, RV Stewards today interview trainer Chris Waller after it had been established that Asterix … was found to have had the medication Penetrene administered to both forelegs in its stable on race morning,” a Racing Victoria Stewards statement said.

“Penetrene is a topical product marketed as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic liniment … and is used typically on horses for symptomatic relief of muscle strains, sprains and muscle soreness.

“Any substance administered to a horse on raceday, including any topical application amongst any other route of administration, is considered a medication.”

Hello and welcome to our coverage of Melbourne Cup day!

The big race doesn’t start until midday (WA time), but we’ll take you through all the build-up and the latest news ahead of the big race. And there’s already a significant change to the field this morning...