Bendigo Cup winner High Emocean (NZ) (Ocean Park) has escaped a rehandicap for the Melbourne Cup and remains outside the safety limit of 24 runners.
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace -trained mare is on the limit weight of 50kg for the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday.
Victory in Wednesday’s Gr.3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) pushed High Emocean up the ballot order to 25th with the final field of 24 to be declared on Saturday.
Racing Victoria chief handicapper David Hegan said High Emocean’s win on Wednesday was a determined one, but she was also well weighted in the handicap.
“Due to the margins, ratings and weights of the beaten horses in the Bendigo Cup, she has not been allocated a penalty for the Melbourne Cup, either in weight or against the benchmark,” Hegan said.
In making the announcement, Hegan noted that even had he been able to penalise High Emocean 0.5kg or 1kg against the weight-for-age benchmark, the mare would still have been placed number 25 in the Order of Entry and not risen any higher.
High Emocean rose to 25 in the ballot order on Thursday morning following the withdrawals of Durston (Sea The Moon) and Harmysian (Lope De Vega) in the past 24 hours.
Saturday’s Gr.3 Archer Stakes (2500m) at Flemington is set to play a key role in shaping the final field for the Melbourne Cup with the winner granted a golden ticket if a current acceptor.
Those on the cusp of the top 24 that have accepted for the Archer Stakes hoping to secure a last-minute spot include Realm Of Flowers (So You Think) (24th), Interpretation (Galileo) (26th), Makram (Make Believe) (27th) and King Of The Castle (Galileo) (28th).
Alegron (Teofilo) (13th) and Crystal Pegasus (Australia) (21st), along with 2021 Archer Stakes winner Great House (Galileo) and Geelong Cup runner-up Surefire (Fastnet Rock), who do not feature among Melbourne Cup fourth acceptances, can spoil the party if successful while Serpentine (Galileo) (29th) and Chapada (Bullet Train) (30th) can leap up the order by finishing second or third thus passing the first elimination clause.
