2009 Cox Plate winner So You Think is among several highly-rated horses yet to pass the elimination clause for the $6 million Melbourne Cup in November.
Racing Victoria confirmed the current ballot order for the spring's major races and it revealed that So You Think must either win the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, finish in the top eight in the Caulfield Cup, top three in the Cox Plate or top three in the MacKinnon Stakes in order to qualify for the world's richest handicap.
Trainer Bart Cummings is unlikely to plot a path through the Caulfield Cup for So You Think, who is currently Cox Plate favourite, and $17 for the Melbourne Cup.
Cummings has suggested he will follow a similar path to that of his 1996 Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup champion Saintly. That means that either a win in the Turnbull Stakes or a top-three placing in the Cox Plate seem the likely option.
The other major hopes yet to qualify for the Melbourne Cup are Metal Bender, Trusting, Linton and Moudre, the current Caulfield Cup favourite.
Moudre, with just 51kgs, is well down the order of entry for the Caulfield Cup and needs to win either the Naturalism Stakes (2000m) or the Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) to be exempt from the ballot.
Tony Vasil's mare Valdemoro, currently a $15 chance for the Caulfield Cup, is in a similar position, while Rebel Raider, rated a $31 chance, has not passed the qualification clause for the 2400m race.
Shocking is currently on top of the ballot order for the Caulfield Cup win after his win at the Makybe Diva Stakes, but is unlikely to contest the race, while imported galloper Alandi tops the ballot for the Melbourne Cup.