Descarado's historic Caulfield Cup victory has earned him a 1-1/2 kilogram penalty for the Melbourne Cup, taking him to 54kg.The four-year-old gave trainer Gai Waterhouse her first Caulfield Cup win on Saturday while his jockey Chris Munce joined an elite club to have won the four major races on the Australian calendar.Racing Victoria's chief handicapper Greg Carpenter said the penalty reflected the quality of the win but took into account the heavy track which tested many of Descarado's rivals.

Descarado's historic Caulfield Cup victory has earned him a 1-1/2 kilogram penalty for the Melbourne Cup, taking him to 54kg.

The four-year-old gave trainer Gai Waterhouse her first Caulfield Cup win on Saturday while his jockey Chris Munce joined an elite club to have won the four major races on the Australian calendar.

Racing Victoria's chief handicapper Greg Carpenter said the penalty reflected the quality of the win but took into account the heavy track which tested many of Descarado's rivals.

"The race time was the slowest since Lord Reims' victory in 1987 and a number of the runners on Saturday failed to handle the conditions," Carpenter said.

"The penalty needs to reflect the merit of Descarado's win but also acknowledge the new challenge that lies ahead of him in his attempt to become the 12th horse in history to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne double in the same year.

Waterhouse stable representative Mark Webbey, a former handicapper in Australia and Singapore, said the penalty was what was expected.

"We thought he would get one to one-and-a-half kilos," Webbey said.

"It's a fair assessment and gives him the opportunity to win.

"He has only won one Group One race and the horses around him are better performed."

Descarado will carry the same weight in the Melbourne Cup as four-year-old Railings in 2005 after he won the Caulfield Cup.

Like Railings, Descarado was placed in the AJC Australian Derby.

The last Caulfield Cup winner to receive less than two kilos was Sky Heights in 1999.

Both Railings and Sky Heights were unplaced in the Melbourne Cup.

Maluckyday, winner of the City Tattersalls Cup at Randwick on Saturday, escaped penalty for the win.

Carpenter questioned the quality of Maluckyday's opposition and said he could not justify raising his weight.

Maluckyday went from 75th to 50th on the Melbourne Cup order of elimination and passed the first ballot clause with his 2400m win.

Metal Bender's eighth in the Caulfield Cup was enough to ensure him a Melbourne Cup start and he shot up the order from 55th to sixth.

Third declarations for the Melbourne Cup close next Monday with the final field decided on October 30.

Last year's winner Shocking, an eye-catching fourth in the Caulfield Cup, and So You Think remained $5 equal favourites on Monday.

Descarado shares the second line at $13 with Linton who has been nominated for Saturday's Cathay Pacific Airways Cup at Moonee Valley.