Viewed 再加1kg上陣墨爾本杯
即負58 kg 上陣,成為是場頂磅馬匹
Racing Victoria Ltd (RVL) Chief Handicapper, Greg Carpenter, today (Monday) announced a 1kg weight penalty for Viewed in the $5.5m Emirates Melbourne Cup following his win in the $2.5m BMW Caulfield Cup on Saturday.
Viewed, the reigning Melbourne Cup champion, joins 2007 cup winner Efficient at the top of the weights for Flemington's 3 November feature on 58kg.
In the last 30 years, 26 horses have run in the Melbourne Cup with 58kg or more, but only one, Makybe Diva in 2005, has been successful.
In the same period two horses have won the Caulfield Cup carrying 57kg, the weight carried to success by the Bart Cummings-trained Viewed on Saturday, or more.
Ming Dynasty won the 1980 edition with 58kg and was not penalised for the Melbourne Cup where he subsequently finished 17th. In 2002, Northerly won with 58kg and received a 2kg penalty for the Melbourne Cup, but he was withdrawn before final acceptances.
“The win of Viewed on Saturday confirmed him as one of the great stayers of the modern era,” Carpenter said. “He was already high up in the Melbourne Cup weights and his new weight of 58kg represents an increase of 5kg on his Cup winning weight in 2008.
“He will need to emulate the deeds of Makybe Diva in 2005 when she became the only horse in the last 30 years to win the Melbourne Cup with more than 57kg.
“In determining the penalty it was important to understand that additional weight will have a greater impact on the performance of a horse higher up in the handicap than it will on a lightly weighted runner.
“I was also mindful that the Melbourne Cup represents a new challenge for Viewed with Efficient, Speed Gifted and Alcopop, last start winners of the Turnbull Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap and Herbert Power Stakes respectively set to run, along with a second wave of international entries who did not contest the Caulfield Cup.”
Third declarations for the Emirates Melbourne Cup close at 10am on Monday, 26 October.
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