Connections will have another avenue to qualify horses for the Melbourne Cup following approval of a two-year trial to increase the distance of Bendigo Cup to 2400m.
From 1994 to 2009, the Bendigo Cup was 2400m but last year, run on the Wednesday before the Melbourne Cup for the first time, the distance was reduced to 2200m to protect key 2500m Cup lead-up races, the Group Two Moonee Valley Cup and the Group Three Lexus Stakes at Flemington.
The new distance and the current prizemoney criteria qualifies the 2011 and 2012 Bendigo Cup winners for the Melbourne Cup.
Bendigo Jockey Club had argued strongly for the race distance change to make it a legitimate Melbourne Cup lead-up race and the Racing Victoria Limited board made the decision to grant its request after receiving a report on aspects of last year’s spring carnival.
The review examined the key outcomes of the carnival including racing, participation and wagering.
RVL announced that the Bendigo Cup would be run over 2400m on a trial basis for the next two years after which it will be reviewed to ensure the Moonee Valley Cup on Cox Plate day and Lexus Stakes on Derby Day are not adversely affected in terms of overall field quality.
Trainers have complained that there was a lack of qualifying races for the Melbourne Cup and connections of contenders will rejoice that Bendigo will give them another option.
The Bendigo Cup meeting was scheduled two weeks earlier last year, replacing the old Werribee Cup date which this year is in March for the first time.
AAP TURF
