The 2025 Melbourne Cup is set to be run on a very wet Flemington track, with up to 20 - 40mm of rain expected to fall on Monday alone.
This could see the track labelled 'heavy', which could swing the race in favour of horses who run well on heavy ground. AllSportsPeople looks at all 2025 Melbourne Cup runners with wins on a heavy track.
Arapaho (3) has the most experience of any Melbourne Cup runners, racing on heavy tracks nine times for two wins, two second places and two third-place finishes, but the Rachel King ridden horse is an outside favourite.
Current favourite Half Yours (14) has one win from one start on a heavy track and will be ridden by acclaimed jockey Jamie Melham, while 2019 Cup-winning jockey Craig Williams will ride Buckaroo (2) who has one win from two starts on a heavy track, while Presage Nocturne (6) has one win and two second-place finishes from four starts and will have Stephane Pasquier as jockey.
MORE: Melbourne Cup track rating: Flemington conditions and weather forecast for 2025 race
2024 Melbourne Cup winning jockey Robbie Dolan will be riding Royal Supremacy (22), while Puerto Rican jockey John Velazquez will be riding Parchment Party, with both horses winning on a heavy track in one start.
Three-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy will be riding Absurde (9), who has one win from two starts on a heavy track, while German jockey Thore-Hammer Hansen will ride Flatten The Curve (10), who has a record of two wins, one second place and one third place from eight starts.
The last of nine horses with wins on heavy tracks is Smokin' Romans (12), who will be ridden by Ben Melham, who has one win and three second-place finishes from five finishes on a heavy track.
Melbourne Cup 2025: Field, gates, odds
Odds correct as of 3/11/2025, courtesy of Neds.
Runner (Barrier) | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
1. Al Riffa (19) | Mark Zahra | Joseph O'Brien | |
2. Buckaroo (12) | Craig Williams | Chris Waller | |
3. Arapaho (15) | Rachel King | Bjorn Baker | |
4. Vauban (2) | Blake Shinn | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | |
5. Chevalier Rose (5) | Damian Lane | Hisashi Shimizu | |
6. Presage Nocturne (9) | Stephane Pasquier | Alessandro Botti | |
7. Middle Earth (13) | Ethan Brown | Ciaron Maher | |
8. Meydaan (22) | James McDonald | Simon & Ed Crisford | |
| 9. Absurde (4) | Kerrin McEvoy | Willie Mullins | $19 |
| 10. Flatten The Curve (17) | Thore-Hammer Hansen | Henk Grewe | $21 |
11. Land Legend (16) | Joao Moreira | Chris Waller | |
12. Smokin' Romans (11) | Ben Melham | Ciaron Maher | |
13. Changingoftheguard (24) | Tim Clark | Kris Lees | |
14. Half Yours (8) | Jamie Melham | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | |
| 15. More Felons (23) | Tommy Berry | Chris Waller | $41 |
16. Onesmoothoperator (6) | Harry Coffey | Brian Ellison | |
17. Further (7) | Michael Dee | Andrew Balding | |
18. Parchment Party (3) | John Velazquez | William Mott | |
| 19. Athabascan (1) | Declan Bates | John O'Shea & Tom Charlton | $81 |
| 20. Goodie Two Shoes (20) | Wayne Lordan | Joseph O'Brien | $41 |
21. River Of Stars (14) | Beau Mertens | Chris Waller | |
| 22. Royal Supremacy (21) | Robbie Dolan | Ciaron Maher | $31 |
23. Torranzino (18) | Celine Gaudray | Paul Preusker | |
24. Valiant King (10) | Jye McNeil | Chris Waller |