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Melbourne Cup 2014: Admire Rakti gets half-kilogram penalty, will run in Cup

20th October, 2014
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UPDATE: Connections of Admire Rakit have advised Racing Victoria that this horse will take its place in the Cup, despite the penalty after its victory in the Caulfield Cup.

He will carry 58.5kg in the Melbourne Cup, with Andrew Bensley saying the trainer was “very keen” to run him.

Caulfield Cup winner Admire Rakti has been given an additional 0.5kg penalty weight handicap for the 2014 Melbourne Cup, with connections of the horse now to decide if he will run in the six million dollar race on November 4.

UPDATE: Connections of the horse have advised Racing Victoria that Admire Rakti will take its place in the cup, despite the penalty.

Already top-weight for the Melbourne Cup, Admire Rakti’s handicap now stands at 58.5kg. Only Think Big in 1975 has carried more to win the Melbourne Cup since 1972, although weight scales have changed and there is less weight differences between top-weight and bottom weights.

In adjusted weights, Makybe Diva’s 58kg weight in 2005 included a 2.5kg mares’ allowance – the equivalent of a male horse carrying 60.5kg. (That rule was subsequently changed, with handicappers now giving mares a 1.5kg allowance only)

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The 0.5kg penalty given to the Japanese horse is the lowest given to a Caulfield Cup winner since Ming Dynasty escaped without a penalty in 1980.

The impressive stallion stormed home to win the Caulfield ahead of New Zealand rivals to give the Japanese raiders the win they desired in one of the biggest races of the spring, after fellow Japan runner Bande was scratched in the days leading up to the Cup.

Owner Riichi Kondo had earlier declared that should the horse receive a significant penalty, he wouldn’t run the horse, and possibly return him to Japan for the Japan Cup on November 30.

While 0.5kg isn’t exactly ‘significant’, it would still tip the scales in the mind of the owner who was unwilling to push over the 58kg barrier.

“This horse has not raced for some time and he has won the Caulfield Cup, and then he has only two weeks to get ready for the Melbourne Cup,” Kondo said. “Extra weight would be a worry because I must have the horse’s welfare to think of,” he told Fairfax.

“I would be worried and concerned if he was to get any more than 58 [kilograms] on Melbourne Cup day. Back in Japan 58 is the highest weight allotted to any horse, so if he gets above that I will be worried.”

The Roar expects Admire Rakti to line-up for the 2014 Melbourne Cup as favourite.

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