So You Are cops second Melbourne Cup penalty after St Leger win

So You Are has been hit with a second 0.5kg Melbourne Cup penalty, rising to 53kg after winning Saturday’s Group 3 ATC St Leger Stakes (2600 metres) at Randwick. The penalty leaves him 35th in the order of entry.

It follows a 0.5kg penalty for the five-year-old’s win in the Group 3 Colin Stephen Stakes (2400 metres) at Rosehill at his previous start, taking his total reassessment to 1kg.

“Today’s 0.5kg penalty takes him to 53kg, which is 6.5kg below the weight-for-age benchmark for an older male horse. That places him 35th in the order of entry so he will need attrition to gain a start in the Cup, but history says that he will go close,” Racing Victoria Head of Handicapping David Hegan said.

Hegan said the gelding’s strength late in the St Leger suggested the 3200 metres of the $10.2 million Cup on November 3 would suit him.

The son of So You Think out of Tornado Gal, owned by Ramsey Pastoral, has won three of four starts this season and finished second in the other since joining Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker. He beat Tempesti in the $500,000 St Leger.

Caulfield Cup winner Kingswood is not entered for the Melbourne Cup, so no other horses were penalised after the weekend.

The order now holds 57 horses, down from the 58 left after second acceptances on October 13.

The last two ballot exemptions go to the winners of Wednesday’s Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400 metres) and Saturday’s Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500 metres), which will be run at Flemington.