English stayer Bauer is virtually assured of a getting his chance to emulate Irish raider Media Puzzle in the Melbourne Cup after he was penalised one kilogram for winning the Geelong Cup.The penalty lifts his weight to 52kg and has elevated him from 43rd to 32nd in order of elimination for the Melbourne Cup.He will rise further up the list when a number of higher-ranked horses drop out of the Cup when third declarations close on Monday.Media Puzzle landed the Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup double in
English stayer Bauer is virtually assured of a getting his chance to emulate Irish raider Media Puzzle in the Melbourne Cup after he was penalised one kilogram for winning the Geelong Cup.
The penalty lifts his weight to 52kg and has elevated him from 43rd to 32nd in order of elimination for the Melbourne Cup.
He will rise further up the list when a number of higher-ranked horses drop out of the Cup when third declarations close on Monday.
Media Puzzle landed the Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup double in 2002 and is the only horse to win both races in the same year.
The Luca Cumani-trained Bauer will join stablemate, the highly-fancied Mad Rush, in the Melbourne Cup field.
Mad Rush is second favourite at $6.50 with TAB Sportsbet, behind Aidan O'Brien's Septimus ($4.50), after his luckless fourth to All The Good in last weekend's Caulfield Cup.
Bauer emerged as a serious Cup contender at $16 when he scored a length win over Moatize and Magic Instinct in the Geelong Cup on Wednesday.
Media Puzzle was penalised 1.5kg for his 2002 Geelong Cup win by 3-1/4 lengths.
Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter said Bauer had obviously adapted well since arriving in Australia and that he was dominant in the Geelong Cup which was his first victory at Group level.
"It was a moderately-run race and after sitting wide with cover in running, Bauer had more to give on the line," Carpenter said.
The Geelong Cup has been an increasingly important guide to the Melbourne Cup in recent years.
Karasi didn't get a penalty when he beat Maythehorsebewithu in the 2001 Geelong Cup and they finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Melbourne Cup.
A year after Media Puzzle's historic double in 2002, She's Archie finished second in both Cups.
On A Jeune won the 2005 Geelong Cup and finished second to Makybe Diva in the last of her three Melbourne Cups.