Juja Kibo cops 1.5kg Melbourne Cup penalty after Moonee Valley Gold Cup win
Juja Kibo has been handed a 1.5kg penalty for the $10.2 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday, November 3, rising from 53.5kg to 55kg after winning Saturday’s Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) at Flemington.
The Ciaron Maher-trained six-year-old came from the back of the field under the equal topweight of 58kg. The win took him from 28th in the order of entry to ballot exemption. He is the fourth exempt runner from the stable, joining Mr Monaco, Point Of Law and Shockletz.
It is his second reassessment in as many starts, following a 2kg penalty for his Metropolitan win. He has now risen 3.5kg since weights were released and sits 4.5kg below weight-for-age.
“This places him alongside other Melbourne Cup hopefuls in Saint George and Asterix, with the quantum of any penalty giving consideration to where it takes a horse in the weights order relative to those it may be competing against and those it has just beaten,” Racing Victoria head of handicapping David Hegan said.
Gold Cup runner-up Kings Valley remains 36th, because the Cup conditions do not allow placegetters to be re-handicapped or reordered after weights are released.
After third acceptances closed on Monday, Maher has eight horses inside the top 24 of the order of entry and Joseph O’Brien has five. Between them, the two stables could supply more than half the field.
Thirty-nine horses, including 12 overseas entries, remain in contention.That is down from 58 at second acceptances. At the same stage last year, 40 horses remained, 11 of them from overseas.
Wednesday’s Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) is the last chance for horses to improve their position before final acceptances close at 4.30pm on Saturday,. Kings Valley, The Euphrates (25th), So You Are (28th), Litzdeel (33rd) and Soulcombe (39th) have all accepted. A top-three finish would take Soulcombe past the first elimination clause and into the top 24 with 55kg.
