Racing Victoria (RV) Executive General Manager - Racing, Greg Carpenter, has today announced that he has issued a weight penalty to The Chosen One in the Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Carpenter has penalised the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman trained Kiwi stayer 0.5kg after his win in the $400,000 Group 2 Ladbrokes Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield on Saturday taking his weight from 51.5kg to 52kg.
Saturday’s victory by the four-year-old entire means he has passed the first ballot clause and is now 37th in the latest order of entry for the Melbourne Cup.
Carpenter said: “In winning the G2 Herbert Power, The Chosen One won exemption into the Stella Artois Caulfield Cup, and under the conditions of that race could not be penalised and will run with 52kg.
“The Chosen One was, however, eligible to be penalised for the Lexus Melbourne Cup and it was appropriate to acknowledge he is a quality four-year-old with an emerging form line.
“While he already meets most rivals from Saturday on worse weight terms in the Melbourne Cup, he was strong at the end of the contest on Saturday, so the decision was made to issue a 0.5kg penalty to amend his Melbourne Cup weight to 52kg.”
Sully, trained by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, was the only other change to the Melbourne Cup Order of Entry having moved from 62nd to equal 61st position with Supernova after earning $36,000 for placing third in the Herbert Power Stakes.
Both Sully and Supernova are 9.5kg under benchmark weight and have earned $90,000 in relevant performances since 1 February 2018.
Second declarations for the Melbourne Cup which will be taken tomorrow (Tuesday, 15 October) at 12noon (AEDT).
Final declarations for the Caulfield Cup will be taken on Wednesday, 16 October at 4.30pm (AEDT).
Click here to view the updated Stella Artois Caulfield Cup Order of Entry.
Click here to view the updated Lexus Melbourne Cup Order of Entry.