Racing Victoria's Chief Handicapper, Greg Carpenter, has given a half-kilo (0.5kg) penalty to French stayer Dunaden for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) following his victory in the Geelong Cup (2400m). It lifts his weight from from 54kgs to 54.5kgs. Carpenter says: 'Dunaden was most impressive winning the Geelong Cup yesterday after sustaining a searching run from the back of the field with 58kg and accordingly I have elected to penalise him 0.5kg in the Melbourne Cup for that victory...Dunaden's cou

Racing Victoria's Chief Handicapper, Greg Carpenter, has given a half-kilo (0.5kg) penalty to French stayer Dunaden for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) following his victory in the Geelong Cup (2400m). It lifts his weight from from 54kgs to 54.5kgs. Carpenter says: 'Dunaden was most impressive winning the Geelong Cup yesterday after sustaining a searching run from the back of the field with 58kg and accordingly I have elected to penalise him 0.5kg in the Melbourne Cup for that victory...Dunaden's countryman Americain won the Geelong Cup with 58kg last year and I also lifted his weight from 54kg to 54.5kg in the Melbourne Cup which he went on to win...I could not justify an increase of greater than 0.5kg for Dunaden though as he is yet to win at Grp 1 or 2 level and the four horses weighted above him in this year's race, Americain, Jukebox Jury, Descarado and Midas Touch, have performed to a higher level.'