Following his dominant win in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield last Saturday, which secured him a golden ticket into the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), Half Yours has been handed a 1.5kg weight penalty for the $5 million Caulfield showpiece.
As a result of his penalty, Half Yours – who is co-trained by the father and son team of Tony and Calvin McEvoy – rises to 52.5kg in the weight scale for the Group 1 feature, which will be held at Caulfield on Saturday, October 18.
With his 3.5-length defeat of Berkshire Breeze, Half Yours became the fourth horse after Bankers Choice, Kovalica and Saturday’s Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) winner Sir Delius to earn Caulfield Cup ballot exemption. Team McEvoy’s lightly-raced five-year-old is now the joint $6 Caulfield Cup favourite with horse racing bookmakers alongside Chris Waller’s Underwood Stakes runner-up Buckaroo, who was assigned the joint topweight of 59kg alongside Light Infantry Man.
Half Yours also holds an entry for the $10 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) and, although he remains 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 he progresses from his previous mark of 60th in the order of entry to 47th place.
“Half Yours won the Naturalism Stakes in effortless style, and the dominant nature of his performance by an expanding margin is worthy of a reassessment in both cups,” said David Hegan, Racing Victoria’s (RV) Head of Handicapping.
“In the Caulfield Cup, he takes a 1.5kg penalty from his previous minimum weight of 51kg, which was the same penalty handed to the 2022 Naturalism winner Smokin’ Romans when he was also on the minimum weight in the Caulfield Cup.
“In the Melbourne Cup, his true weight based on his handicap form would now be 50.5kg, however with the minimum lifted to 51kg this year he was already handicapped on the limit weight and thus his 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.
“As Half Yours is now 9kg below the weight-for-age benchmark for an older male in the Melbourne Cup, he moves up the order of entry to 47th. To guarantee a start in the Melbourne Cup, he will likely need to gain a further penalty or win a golden ticket race.”
Another move made over the weekend was by Kris Lees’ imported stayer Adelaide River, who is part-owned by seven-time Melbourne Cup winner Lloyd Williams.
Following his narrow runner-up finish behind Birdman in the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) at Randwick, Adelaide River (54kg) has now passed the first elimination clause for the Caulfield Cup and moves from 66th to 32nd in the updated order of entry.
As the Kingston Town is run under set weights and penalties, the Chris Waller-trained Birdman is not eligible to receive a penalty after breaking through for the first time in Australia. Only the winners of Group or Listed handicap races of 1600m or further can be penalised in the Caulfield Cup. This applies in the Melbourne Cup also, along with the winners of Group or Listed non-handicap races of 2300m or further – which the Kingston Town was not.
On Friday, the Australian Bloodstock-owned Royal Supremacy boosted his chances of getting a run in the Caulfield Cup when he finished second in the Group 3 Newcastle Cup (2300m), thereby passing the first elimination clause and moving from equal 76th to 58th place on the order of entry.
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