Chasing a Golden Ticket

In 2026, eleven golden tickets are available through ballot-exempt races staged across Victoria, along with three international qualifiers. These include the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup (3200m) at Saratoga in the USA, the Ebor Handicap at York in the UK, and the newly added Group 2 Prix Kergolay (3000m) at Deauville in France.

Early Qualifiers on Home Soil

The first golden ticket for 2026 was secured by Whisky On The Hill, trained by Glen Thompson, with a deserved victory in the Listed Lexus Roy Higgins (2600m) on TAB Australian Cup Day.

After being balloted out of the past two Lexus Melbourne Cups and narrowly missing a start last year, the stayer is now guaranteed a place in this year’s race. He had previously tasted success on TAB Champions Stakes Day, winning the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) and collecting a $200,000 bonus for horses that were final acceptors in the Cup but failed to gain a start.

The Listed Lexus Andrew Ramsden (2800m) is the second golden ticket race. First granted ballot exemption status in 2019, the race has produced four Lexus Melbourne Cup runners since. Won last year by Basilinna, it provides connections with valuable time to map out a Cup preparation aimed at peaking on the first Tuesday in November.

International Golden Tickets

The road to the Cup then heads abroad, beginning with the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup (3200m) in the United States on June 4. The race has been held at Saratoga for the past three years while Belmont Park undergoes redevelopment.

In challenging conditions last year, the race was shifted to the dirt and shortened in distance, with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s Parchment Party producing a dominant eight-length victory in the sloppy conditions. Despite expectations that connections might decline the trip down under, he travelled to Australia and made history as the first American-trained runner in the race.

Attention then turns to the UK and the historic Ebor Handicap (2816m) at York on August 22. The race was given golden ticket status in 2023, but has produced strong Melbourne Cup contenders prior to that. Champion Irish trainer Willie Mullins’ Absurde won the first golden ticket on offer for the Ebor and took up the challenge of bringing the gelding down for the Cup, finishing a credible seventh in the Cup, before subsequent runs of fifth in 2024 and eighth in 2025.

New to the golden ticket schedule in 2026 is the Group 2 Prix Kergolay (3000m) at Deauville. While newly recognised as a qualifier, the race has a proven history as a Cup pathway. Americain (2010), Dunaden (2011), and Protectionist (2014) all contested the Kergolay before claiming Melbourne Cup success, with the first two completing the Kergolay–Geelong Cup–Melbourne Cup progression.

The Spring Pathway Builds

Back in Australia, the road to the Cup ramps up into the spring.

The Group 3 Lexus Archer Stakes (2500m), run on Crown Makybe Diva Stakes Day (September 12), continues its long history as a ballot-exempt race dating back to 1979. First run in 1869 and moved to September in 2024, the race has produced two Cup winners this century — Brew (2000) and Shocking (2009).

On TAB Turnbull Stakes Day, the Group 3 Lexus Bart Cummings (2500m) offers another golden ticket. Named after the legendary trainer who won 12 Melbourne Cups, the race has become a key lead-up, with each of the past ten winners progressing into the final Cup field.

Major Lead-Up Races

The Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) remains the premier lead-up, sitting just over two weeks before the Lexus Melbourne Cup. In 2025, Half Yours became the thirteenth horse to complete the Caulfield Cup–Melbourne Cup double.

Two additional races now hold golden ticket status, the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) and the Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m), the latter to be run at Flemington in 2026 due to the major course redevelopments being conducted at the Moonee Valley site.

The Geelong Cup continues to be a proven pathway, with Media Puzzle, Americain, and Dunaden all completing the Geelong–Melbourne Cup double. In its first year as a golden ticket race, Torranzino won at Geelong before finishing a strong fifth in the 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup.

The Moonee Valley Gold Cup, first run in 1883, has also produced notable Cup performers. Okita Soushi finished third in the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup after winning the race, while Kingston Rule (1990) remains the most recent horse to complete the double.

The Cox Plate Factor

The Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) will be run at Flemington in 2026, marking a rare shift from Moonee Valley.

Five horses have completed the Cox Plate–Melbourne Cup double, most recently the great Makybe Diva in 2005 during her historic third Cup triumph. Other champions to achieve the feat include Saintly, Rising Fast, Phar Lap, and Nightmarch.

In modern times, few attempt the demanding double, with Sir Dragonet the most recent, finishing sixth in the 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup. Makybe Diva’s 2005 campaign remains the benchmark. Her dominant Cox Plate victory paving the way for a final career start that delivered a third Melbourne Cup and secured her place among racing’s immortals.