Weight penalties for Lexus Melbourne Cup hopefuls

Two horses have receive weight penalties for the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) after last weekends feature wins.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained gelding Just Fine has received a penalty of 0.5kg for the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) after his tight victory in The Lexus Bart Cummings (2500m) at Flemington and is now weighted at 53kg.

The win rocketed the seven-year-old, who boasts hundreds of owners through MyRacehorse, from 20th to equal first place in the Order of Entry.

“Just Fine’s win was only a narrow one over The Archer winner Point King, so I was very mindful of the relativity to that horse when considering his revised weight for the Cups,” Hegan said.

“Just Fine, carried 1.5kg more than Point King in The Bart Cummings and was already weighted with 2kg more than him in the Melbourne Cup. With the 0.5kg penalty he’ll now carry 2.5kg more than Point King in the Melbourne Cup which is effectively a 1kg difference from Saturday.

“The 0.5kg penalty is the same one that was handed to another seven-year-old in Lunar Flare after she won The Bart Cummings in 2022.” - David Hegan - RV Head of Handicapping

Land Legend has received a weight penalty of 1kg after claiming his first Group 1 in The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick, taking his weight from 52kg to 53kg.

As a result, his position in the Lexus Melbourne Cup Order of Entry has leapt from equal 53rd to 20th where he is now assured of a start.

“Land Legend’s performance in the Metropolitan was most impressive, drawing away from the rest of the pack with runner-up, VRC Oaks winner Zardozi,” Hegan said of the Chris Waller-trained stayer.

“Whilst it was only the narrowest of margins, it was a performance that was worthy of a penalty from a horse that was only third-up from almost a year off the scene.

“The 1kg penalty is the same that was afforded to No Compromise (2022) and Montefilia (2021) after their respective victories in the Metropolitan.” - David Hegan - RV Head of Handicapping

In the Order of Entry for the $8.4 million Lexus Melbourne Cup, Eliyass (Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott) passed the ballot with his TAB Turnbull Stakes placing and thus moved from 52nd to 21st.

Unusual Legacy’s minor placing in the Metropolitan was also favourable to connections’ hopes of gaining a start in the Lexus Melbourne Cup with the horse passing the ballot clause. Accordingly, he’s moved from equal 57th to 48th.

Second acceptances for the Lexus Melbourne Cup will be taken at 12 noon (AEDT) on Tuesday, 15 October.

Click here to view the updated Lexus Melbourne Cup Order of Entry (as at 7 October 2024)