Moonee Valley Gold Cup winner Miami Bound will not be penalised for Tuesday weeks Melbourne Cup.
Greg Carpenter, has this morning announced that Miami Bound will not receive a weight penalty in the $8 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington for her weekend feature win at The Valley.
The Danny O’Brien-trained four-year-old mare became eligible for a penalty following her triumph in the Group 2 McCafe Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2600m) on Saturday.
Miami Bound, the 2019 VRC Oaks (2500m) heroine, has 51kg in the Melbourne Cup and was assured of a start prior to the Moonee Valley Gold Cup win where she sat at 22nd in the order of entry.
Carpenter said: “Miami Bound was a strong winner of the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, however she was well weighted under the set weights and penalties conditions of the Group 2 race and she will face superior opposition at Flemington on Cup Day.
“At 5.5kg under weight-for-age benchmark in the Melbourne Cup, modern history says she already faces a significant challenge to win the race with 51kg.
“The last VRC Oaks winner to win the Melbourne Cup as a four-year-old was Light Fingers way back in 1965, whilst Kingston Rule was the last horse to the complete the Moonee Valley-Melbourne Cup double 30 years ago in 1990.”
Third acceptances for the 2020 Melbourne Cup close at 10am (AEDT) today with an updated order of entry to be released thereafter.
Under the conditions of the Melbourne Cup, Saturday’s Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) winner Sir Dragonet was unable to be penalised in the two-mile handicap for his Group 1 weight-for-age triumph.
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