Two horses have been handed weight penalties for the $5 million Caulfield Cup (2400m) which will be held on Saturday week, following their respective victories over the weekend.
Ciaron Maher’s Royal Supremacy, winner of The Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick on Saturday, rises from 51kg to 52.5kg in the weight scale having received a penalty of 1.5kg for the Caulfield showpiece.
Dominant Group 3 Bart Cummings (2500m) winner Valiant King, who ran ninth in last year’s Caulfield Cup for Chris Waller, rises from 51kg to 52kg in the weight scale having received a penalty of 1kg for this year’s edition.
The penalties see Royal Supremacy and Valiant King progress to 26th and 27th respectively in the Caulfield Cup order of entry with both horses currently $15 with racing betting sites behind race favourite Half Yours (52.5kg), who ran a slashing fourth in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) on Saturday.
Half Yours is now the $3.50 favourite for the Caulfield Cup, after opening as long as $27 with Picklebet.
Both Royal Supremacy and Valiant King also hold entries for the $10 million Melbourne Cup (3200m), with Valiant King securing the fourth live golden ticket into the race that stops a nation alongside Parchment Party, Deakin and Revelare thanks to his Bart Cummings victory.
Although both horses remain at 51kg in the iconic race due to the 2kg difference in weight scales between the two Cups this year, the penalty effectively applies against the weight-for-age scale so Royal Supremacy progresses to 32nd in the order of entry.
“It was an easy win for Royal Supremacy on Saturday, he moved into the race effortlessly at the top of the straight and was too strong through the line for his rivals,” said David Hegan, Racing Victoria’s (RV) Head of Handicapping.
“As a result, he was worthy of a reassessment and takes a 1.5kg Caulfield Cup penalty to rise off the limit of 51kg to 52.5kg while moving up seven spots to 26th in the order of entry.
“This places him one spot in the order behind Birdman who carried 1.5kg more than Royal Supremacy in the Metropolitan, but would meet him on level weight terms for that 2.6 length defeat.
“In the Bart Cummings, off the very strong pace set by Gilded Water, many were found wanting in the latter stages of the race but Valiant King was the exception, barnstorming from the back of the field to win by an expanding 2.75 lengths on the line.
“His runaway victory earns him a 1kg Caulfield Cup penalty off the limit of 51kg to 52kg while moving up 10 spots to 27th in the order of entry.
“Neither horse takes a weight penalty for the Melbourne Cup and while Valiant King secured ballot exemption on Saturday, Royal Supremacy does progress up the order nine places from 41st to 32nd given that he is now 9kg below the weight-for-age benchmark for an older male.
“Both horse’s true Melbourne Cup weights based on handicap form would now be 50.5kg and 50.0kg respectively, however with the minimum lifted to 51kg this year they were already handicapped on the limit weight and thus their weight won’t change. This takes into account the fact that Caulfield Cup weights are 2kg higher than Melbourne Cup weights this year due to the topweights.”
Bart Cummings placegetters Torranzino (second) and Gilded Water (third) both also improved their chances of gaining a start in the Melbourne Cup by passing the first elimination clause and moving up to 48th and 50th respectively in the order of entry.
