Different topweights announced for Caulfield and Melbourne Cups as the countdown intensifies

Reigning Australian Racehorse of the Year Via Sistina and Irish St Leger (2800m) winner Al Riffa have been given the joint topweight of 59kg for the $10 million Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m), with Group 1 winners Buckaroo and Light Infantry Man assigned the same weight for the $5 million Sportsbet Caulfield Cup (2400m).

At today’s release of weights, Racing Victoria’s (RV) Head of Handicapping, David Hegan, revealed that Al Riffa, who was recently acquired by syndicator Australian Bloodstock, warranted top billing alongside Chris Waller’s champion mare Via Sistina given his burgeoning profile and dominant Group 1 Irish St Leger victory on Sunday for two-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Joseph O’Brien.

Given neither Al Riffa nor Via Sistina were among the Caulfield Cup entries after first acceptances were taken last week, horses in the Caulfield showpiece have today been allocated 2kg more to meet the requirement of a minimum 59kg topweight meaning dual entries above the minimum weight have been allotted different handicaps in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

Under the new policy announced in April and endorsed by the host Clubs and industry stakeholders, minimum topweight for both Cups at the release of handicaps was increased from 58kg to 59kg, with the minimum weight increased from 50kg to 51kg. It is also a condition of both Cups that the final field is declared with a minimum topweight of 57kg meaning weights may also be raised at that time.

Accordingly, defending Group 1 SEN Underwood Stakes (1800m) champion Buckaroo and Light Infantry Man (Ciaron Maher), who is also nominated for this Saturday’s Group 1 feature at Caulfield, were both elevated to 59kg for the Caulfield Cup on 18 October. Only Buckaroo carries an entry for the Melbourne Cup where he’s been allotted 57kg.

Vauban, who was heavily backed in the past two Melbourne Cups, and Bjorn Baker’s reigning Sydney Cup (3200m) winner Arapaho come next in the Caulfield Cup weights on 58.5kg, with that pair set to carry 56.5kg should they press onto ‘the race that stops a nation’ at Flemington on 4 November.

Last year’s fairytale Melbourne Cup winner Knight’s Choice has been allotted 55kg – an increase of 3.5kg from 2024 – for his bid to become the first horse to retain his Melbourne Cup title since Makybe Diva achieved the feat 20 years ago. Unfortunately for the connections of 2024 Caulfield Cup winner Duke De Sessa, an injury setback has prevented his title defence.

Quotes attributable to RV’s Head of Handicapping, David Hegan:

“This year marks a change in Group 1 handicapping in Victoria, where the topweights must now be assigned 59kg and the minimum weight for older horses is 51kg, which represents a 1kg increase overall in the weight structure compared to recent years.

“The topweights for the Melbourne Cup are clear cut, with Via Sistina and Al Riffa both set 59kg which is the new minimum topweight requirement in both cups. However, they are two different competitors with contrasting form lines.

“Via Sistina’s record speaks for itself, and she carries the single best performance rating of any nominated horse following her dominant eight-length win in last year’s Cox Plate. Her class is clear in races up to 2000m, with the staying challenge of two miles the only major query. 

“Al Riffa was a dominant winner of the Group 1 Irish St Leger on Sunday. He has now won Group 1 races at distances ranging from 1400m to 2800m and follows other recent winners of the Irish St Leger in Sonnyboyliston (2021) and Order Of St George (2017) in being at the top of the Melbourne Cup weights.

“Reigning Melbourne Cup champion Knight’s Choice carried 51.5kg last year so when factoring in the new weight scale, he effectively moves up 2.5kg, even though he’s assigned 55kg. Comparatively, two other lightweight winners in the past decade, Almandin (52kg) and Prince of Penzance (53kg), both progressed 2.5kg the following year from their victories.

“In the Caulfield Cup, Light Infantry Man and Buckaroo are the standout Group 1 weight-for-age performers and carry the highest international rating performance.

“Light Infantry Man was decisive in his second win at Group 1 weight-for-age level in the Australian Cup back in March, while Buckaroo easily won the Group 1 Underwood Stakes last year, then finished a head behind Via Sistina in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes and was runner-up in the Caulfield Cup. Both horses are therefore allotted 59kg in the Caulfield Cup, which is the equivalent of weight-for-age.”

Lexus Melbourne Cup – Additional Horses of Note

In addition to Vauban, 2013 Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Gai Waterhouse and her training partner Adrian Bott prepare the current second favourite, Sir Delius, who has been assigned 55.5kg and talented mare Alalcance who sits on 53kg.

Chris Waller, the 2021 winning trainer, has 27 of the 120 entrants for this year’s renewal with Via Sistina and Buckaroo joined by high-class Yulong-owned trio Moira (55kg), Full Count Felicia (53.5kg) and River of Stars (51.5kg), along with ATC Derby (2400m) heroine Aeliana (53kg).

The four horses guaranteed a place in this year’s Melbourne Cup after winning ballot exempt races are Basilinna (51kg), impressive last-start Lexus Archer Stakes (2500m) victor Revelare (51.5kg), Deakin (52kg) and Parchment Party (52kg). The latter, who is trained by USA Hall of Famer Bill Mott and ridden by legendary jockey Johnny Velasquez, is set to become the first American-trained horse to contest Australia’s most iconic race.

Aside from Al Riffa and Belmont Gold Cup (2816m) winner Parchment Party, USA-bred Scandinavia creates much international interest in the Melbourne Cup entries after his impressive victory in the Group 1 English St Leger (2921m) over the weekend for revered Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien.

The exciting northern hemisphere three-year-old has been assigned 55.5kg, representing 1kg below the weight-for-age scale and taking into account his Group 1 win against older horses in the Goodwood Cup (3200m). The weight is 0.5kg more above the minimum weight than two of Aidan O’Brien’s previous St Leger winners, Kew Gardens (2018) and Jan Brueghel (2024), were allotted in the Melbourne Cup as three-year-olds.

The weight allotted to other international entries of note includes 55.5kg to Japanese contender Chevalier Rose, 53.5kg to German entrant Flatten The Curve, 52kg to England’s 2024 Geelong Cup winner Onesmoothoperator, and 51.5kg to Al Riffa’s Irish stablemate Goodie Two Shoes who will be a first Melbourne Cup runner for legendary Irish owner JP McManus.

Sportsbet Caulfield Cup – Additional Horses of Note

Nominal favourite Aeliana, the stablemate of equal topweight and 2024 runner-up Buckaroo, has been assigned 55kg, although Waller is yet decide whether the brilliant four-year-old mare will contest the Caulfield Cup or remain at shorter distances throughout spring.

After he ran third in the 2024 Caulfield Cup with 53kg, her stablemate Land Legend rises to 55.5kg this year principally due to the lift in weights for all entries. Likewise, fourth placegetter Zardozi – a new addition to the Ciaron Maher stable – rises to 54.5kg from the 51kg she carried last year.

Another Maher runner in Middle Earth (56.5kg) is well fancied to give his trainer a third victory in the Caulfield Cup, while Half Yours is building a very progressive profile for the Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable but, on the limit of 51kg, the recent Caloundra Cup (2400m) winner will likely need to win another stakes race and receive a weight penalty or ballot exemption in order to gain a start.

The two runners guaranteed a start at present are the Waller-trained Kovalica (57kg) who secured a ballot exemption winning Brisbane’s Q22 (2200m) and Mornington Cup winner Bankers Choice (54kg) who is now prepared by Ben, Will and JD Hayes.

Irish stayer Absurde (55.5kg), who has contested the past two Melbourne Cups for Irish trainer Willie Mullins, is one of four overseas raiders being prepped for the Caulfield Cup, with Presage Nocturne – who is trained in France by Italian horseman Alessandro Botti – the highest weighted on 57.5kg.

British trainers Simon and Ed Crisford, who finished runner-up in 2023 with West Wind Blows, have Meydaan (56kg) in quarantine, while six-year-old mare Golden Snap (53.5kg), will be looking to become the third Japanese horse to win the race after Mer De Glace (2019) and Admire Rakti (2014).    

Second acceptances for the Caulfield Cup will close at 12pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, 23 September, with first acceptances for the Melbourne Cup taken one week later on Tuesday, 30 September. 

Two chances will be on offer at Caulfield this Saturday, 20 September, to secure a golden ticket to the Caulfield Cup, with the respective winners of the Underwood Stakes and the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) both guaranteed a start.  

For the full list of Sportsbet Caulfield Cup weights and the Order of Entry as at 16 September 2025, please click here

For the full list of Lexus Melbourne Cup weights and the Order of Entry as at 16 September 2025, please click here