Connections of English horse Gatewood will need to rely on attrition or run the stayer again on Derby Day if he is to get his chance at emulating the past two Geelong Cup winners in the Melbourne Cup.
Gatewood was on Thursday handed a 1kg penalty for his Geelong Cup win which has taken his Melbourne Cup weight to 52.5kg.
But it was not enough to assure him of a Cup start.
It moves the John Gosden-trained five-year-old from 41st to 36th in the Melbourne Cup order of entry with 24 runners to line up in the famous race on November 6.
Gatewood won the Geelong Cup (2400m) on Wednesday in a slowly-run event which turned into a sprint home.
The past two Geelong Cup winners, Americain and Dunaden, have both gone on to win the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at their next start.
Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper Greg Carpenter said he took several factors into account when determining Gatewood’s penalty.
He pointed to the “merit of the performance, the quality of the race, the manner in which it was contested and also the relevant weights of yesterday’s opposition” as factors he weighed up in assessing the penalty.
Carpenter also stressed the Geelong Cup did not offer a ballot exemption for the Melbourne Cup and said it was not his job to ensure the winner of the Geelong feature lined up at Flemington.
