Melbourne Cup start now in sight for Sayedaty Sadaty

Wednesday’s impressive Ladbrokes Bendigo Cup (2400m) winner Sayedaty Sadaty is now on the verge of a Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) start despite not receiving an increase in his weight for next Tuesday’s (4 November) $10 million showpiece.

Racing Victoria (RV) Head of Handicapping, David Hegan, today announced that Sayedaty Sadaty will remain on the Melbourne Cup minimum of 51kg, however he has increased the horse’s rating and with it his relatively to the Weight For Age (WFA) benchmark scale.

The Ciaron Maher-trained five-year-old rises from 9.5kg below WFA to 9kg which, coupled with his additional $300,000 prizemoney from yesterday’s Group 3 triumph at Bendigo, sees the horse rise from 35th to 25th in the Melbourne Cup Order of Entry.

With a field of 24 starters to be declared and none of the remaining 38 Melbourne Cup entries engaged to race before Saturday’s 4.30pm final acceptance deadline, Sayedaty Sadaty requires just one horse to be withdrawn or not accept to secure a start.

“Sayedaty Sadaty was aided by a perfect ride from Harry Coffey but ultimately was too strong for his rivals and won going away at the post to claim the Bendigo Cup,” Hegan said.

“The performance does not warrant a weight penalty like it did for Sea King last year when he was lifted 0.5kg above the minimum, but Sayedaty Sadaty’s win does warrant an adjustment to his handicap profile which results in his elevation up the order.

“He has been moved up to a true weight of 50.5kg in the Melbourne Cup, which is 9kg below the Weight-For-Age benchmark, but with the weight scale lifted by 1kg this year he will carry the minimum of 51kg on which he was already handicapped.”

Sayedaty Sadaty moves ahead of the Chris Waller-trained Birdman who is now 26th in the Order of Entry following this morning’s withdrawal of Mark Twain. Hegan explained that Birdman is unfortunate not to be higher in the order.

“Birdman won the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes just five days after we released the Melbourne Cup weights but, as the conditions of that race were Set Weights and Penalties, I was unable to penalise the horse,” Hegan said. 

Quietness, who finished second in the Bendigo Cup as favourite, was this morning withdrawn from the entries for the Melbourne Cup.

Click here to view the updated Melbourne Cup Order of Entry as at 30 October 2025