It's the big problem for the Cup countdown... Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter will unveil his 10th set of Melbourne Cup weights on Tuesday, but the latest presents the far greatest challenge, reports Racing Network.
Carpenter’s biggest issue is there is no obvious stand out horse that automatically leaps out as the horse to head the handicaps.
Under Cup conditions, there must be an original top weight who has to carry 58 kilos.
But, with Mukhadram, the Caulfield Cup top weight at 58 kg, not a Melbourne Cup nomination and nor is Hong Kong horse Dan Excel, which was given second top weight of 57kg, there is an obvious void.
And, it hasn’t been solved by the inclusion of a handful of European horses, not entered for the Caulfield Cup, whose target is specifically the Melbourne Cup.
Japanese horse Admire Rakti and last year’s Caulfield Cup winner Fawkner, who were handicapped at 56kg in the Caulfield Cup, appear the logical Melbourne Cup top weights.
And, what that is likely to mean is that the weights will be elevated accordingly across the board.
So, horses who in the past may have been handicapped at 53kg will now find themselves on 55kg.
It doesn’t mean that the minimum weight of 50kg will rise. The lowest weighted horses will still be on 50kg.
But, the top and middle tier horses will be asked to shoulder bigger imposts than in the past.
Just where horses sit in the Cup handicap landscape will be revealed by Carpenter on Tuesday, sometime before noon.