Mr Monaco and Juja Kibo receive Melbourne Cup penalties
Mr Monaco’s Bart Cummings victory secured a Melbourne Cup berth, while Juja Kibo’s Metropolitan win has lifted him sharply in both Cups’ orders of entry and brought a Caulfield Cup penalty.
Racing Victoria (RV) has given Ciaron Maher-trained Mr Monaco a 1.5kg Melbourne Cup penalty and stablemate Juja Kibo a 2kg penalty following their weekend feature wins. Juja Kibo also received a 1kg Caulfield Cup penalty.
Mr Monaco will carry 52.5kg, up from 51kg, in the $10.2 million Melbourne Cup over 3200 metres on November 3.
The imported gelding secured a ballot exemption by winning Saturday’s Group 3 Bart Cummings at Flemington, his fourth victory from 10 starts in Australia. He joins stablemate Shockletz, Joseph O’Brien’s Defiantly and Grahame Begg’s Zakouma among the four exempt first acceptors.
RV head of handicapping David Hegan explained why Mr Monaco’s reassessment also improved his standing for the $6.55 million Caulfield Cup over 2400 metres on October 17.
“Mr Monaco does not receive a weight penalty in the Caulfield Cup but progresses up 1.5kg versus the weight for age scale, from an effective true weight of 49.5kg to the true weighted minimum of 51kg, thus moving up from 49th to 33rd in the current order,” Hegan said.
Mr Monaco is now weighted level in the Melbourne Cup with Valiant King, who finished third in the Bart Cummings.
Juja Kibo carried 56.5kg to win Saturday’s Group 2 Metropolitan over 2400 metres at Randwick, having finished second in the Kingston Town Stakes at his previous start.
“In the Caulfield Cup, he moves from a true weight of 50kg to 52kg, which is an actual weight penalty of 1kg above the minimum, and he will now carry 52kg. In the Melbourne Cup he rises from 51.5kg to 53.5kg which puts him 0.5kg below The Euphrates, who conceded him 2.5kg on Saturday when finishing third,” Hegan said.
Juja Kibo climbs 11 places to 30th in the Caulfield Cup order and 12 places to 34th in the Melbourne Cup order.
Litzdeel’s second placing in the Bart Cummings satisfied the Caulfield Cup’s first elimination clause and lifted her 10 places to 44th. She remains 48th in the Melbourne Cup order, having already cleared its first elimination clause.
The Euphrates, trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, has cleared the Melbourne Cup’s first elimination clause following his Metropolitan third, moving up 29 places to 32nd.
Metropolitan runner-up Aethelwulf remains on the Melbourne Cup minimum of 51kg and is 54th in the order.
