After we brought news of the Cup nominations, the weights have now been announced for this year’s Melbourne Cup horses.
Without A Fight Looks to Create History
The 2023 Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup star Without A Fight has been given the 58.5kg top weight for both races he is due to defend.
Anthony and Sam Freedman’s stellar eight-year-old Victorian Horse of the Year has been saddled with a 3kg rise on top of the weight he carried at Caulfield. It is also 2kg more than his Melbourne Cup-winning weight.
Last year, Without A Fight became only the twelfth horse in history to won both Cups. Now, he bids to become the first since Think Big back in 1975 to carry over 58kg to win the Melbourne Cup.
That suggests a near-impossible task for Without A Fight. If he is at his best however, it is not beyond his capabilities.
Up to now, no horse has won both Cups and then won the Melbourne Cup again the following season. As well as this, only Poseidon and Rising Fast have returned to win Caulfield Cups. This would be a truly unique feat.
Maher and Internationals Find Out Weights
Ciaron Maher has no fewer than 16 nominations for this year’s race. Berkshire Breeze has 50kg and runs next in the Bart Cummings. That race offers exemption from the ballot.
20th in the rankings just now is Maher’s Circle Of Fire with 54.5kg. The rest of his team is strewn around the handicap.
Maher, perhaps more than Chris Waller, has the strongest of the “home” teams this year. All eyes are on the internationals though. Handicapping them isn’t the easiest for David Hegan, the Head of Handicapping at Racing Victoria.
Various international form lines must be taken into account when assessing horses. There are 21 overseas runners this time including Vauban. Last year’s well-backed favourite has been given 55.5kg while his Willie Mullins stablemate gets 52.5kg.
Hipop De Loire is also in contention on 50kg, but given last year’s results Absurde looks the best treated of this particular bunch.
Fellow Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien could be back with a bang this year. He has nominated six horses, two of which fought out the finish of the St Leger in England last weekend. Winner Jan Brueghel and runner-up Illinois have been allocated 54kg and 53kg respectively.
Magical Zoe, winner of the Ebor Handicap in England, passes the ballot with 52.5kg but isn’t guaranteed to run. The Grey Wizard carries 53kg and could be the USA’s first runner, while Archer Stakes scorer Point King also passes with 50.5kg.
It’s been more than two decades since Sheila Laxon became the first female trainer to win the Cup with Ethereal. Along with John Symons, she has Mission Of Love here on 50kg along with Knight’s Choice who has 51.5kg.
