Dual Cups winner Half Yours faces a difficult task if he is to again win the Melbourne Cup.
The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained stayer has been allocated 59kg in this year’s Melbourne Cup, a rise of 6kg on his winning weight of 12 months ago.
Half Yours carried 52.5kg and rises to 57.5kg in the Caulfield Cup in which Sir Delius has been allocated 59kg as topweight.
This year’s Cups, after consultation with industry groups following last year’s races, sees a minimum weight of 51kg, a rise of 1kg on last year.
That 1kg rise also means there must be a 59kg minimum topweight when weights are released.
While Sir Delius was the natural topweight for the Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 17, the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained galloper was not entered for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3.
That required Melbourne Cup weights to raise 1.5kg to attain the 59kg minimum topweight.
“Sir Delius, a three-time Group 1 winner, stands out as the best performed horse and natural topweight for this year’s Caulfield Cup, however his absence from the Melbourne Cup has necessitated two different sets of weights,” Racing Victoria’s Head of Handicapping David Hegan said.
“Last year saw the introduction of a 1kg overall increase to the weight structure of both races where topweights must be assigned 59kg at the release of weights and the minimum weight for older horses is 51kg.
“Half Yours was the dominant Caulfield and Melbourne Cup champion in 2025 and has been weighted accordingly. He effectively rises 4.5kg from his Melbourne Cup performance before the additional 1.5kg was applied to ensure a 59kg topweight.”
“That increase applies to all Melbourne Cup entrants above the minimum weight.”
Hegan said one of the more interesting runners in the handicap was Highwayman who recently won the English St Leger.
In doing so he achieved the same rating as 2024 winner Jan Brueghel and has effectively been given the same weight of 56.5kg under the new weight scale.
Last year’s Melbourne Cup runner-up Goodie Two Shoes rises to 55kg, up from 51.5kg carried in last year’s Cup.
Goodie Two Shoes is one of 11 Cup entries for dual Cups winning trainer Joseph O’Brien who also has Sons And Lovers (57.5kg) and Defiantly (56.5kg) high up in the weights.
Aeliana has been allocated 58kg in the Melbourne Cup and would have been topweight had she not been afforded the 2kg weight-for-age mare’s allowance.
Early favourite for the Caulfield Cup, Green Spaces, has been allocated 54.5kg following his win in the Australian Derby at Randwick during the autumn, the same weight as Enfjaar and Wine Dark Sea, both Group 3 winners in Europe recently.
