The 1986 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 5 November 1986. The race, run over , at Flemington Racecourse.
The 1986 Melbourne Cup was won by At Talaq, who was bought by Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum for $800,000, and was sent to England to be trained by Harry Thomson Jones. He raced successfully and won the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp Racecourse before going to Australia to be trained by Colin Hayes. In his six-year-old season he won the Mackinnon Stakes before his victory in the Melbourne Cup; both times the son of Roberto was ridden by Michael Clarke. 1983 winner Kiwi was fourth, 1988 winner Empire Rose was fifth, and the 1984 winner Black Knight finished down the order.
This is a list of horses which ran in the 1986 Melbourne Cup.