Luck of the barrier draw in the Melbourne Cup

When the Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861, there were no barrier stalls. A steward on horseback waved a red flag to start the race. Later, strand barriers were introduced, and in 1924, positions began to be allocated by ballot and published in race books. Even then, strict order at the start was far from guaranteed, with jockeys jostling for better spots and the starter shuffling unruly horses to the outside.

The modern era began in 1958, when automatic stalls were installed at Flemington for the 98th running of the Cup. Each horse is allocated a numbered gate, drawn randomly on Derby Day in front of connections. If a horse is scratched before the race, every runner drawn outside that horse moves one barrier closer to the rail – which explains why some “hoodoos” are more statistical quirks than true curses. Since the introduction of stalls, each barrier has produced a winner. Inside or out, it is the horse – not the number above the gate – that generally makes the difference.

Melbourne Cup Winning Barriers 1958* – 2024

*   1958 = First use of mobile barrier stalls for the Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup Barrier Stall Statistics 1958–2024

Note: Horses who originally drew barriers 8 and 20 have never yet won a Melbourne Cup since 1958, but horses who ended up starting from those barriers have won 5 Melbourne Cups between them.