Tainer Brett Cavanough says The Monstar has been penalised too heavily for his promising Melbourne spring carnival form and the sprinter is unlikely to be part of his Randwick team on Saturday.
The Monstar is among 13 entries for a benchmark race and shares the 62.5kg topweight with Timeless Prince.
Cavanough was hoping The Monstar, which finished alongside spring casualty Lankan Rupee when fourth in the Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield at his most recent start, would be the beneficiary of newly introduced handicapping conditions for country-trained horses racing at city level.
“They have a six-kilo discretionary rule (for country-trained horses) at Racing NSW now and I thought they might bring that into play,” Albury-based Cavanough said.
“But they reckon The Monstar mightn’t be eligible because he (just) got beaten by Lankan Rupee and he ran second to Sabatini because there was nothing else there to run second.
“He’s a country horse but now they think he is a Group horse. I’m a little bit frustrated there, but anyway.
“He’s not getting any relief at all. That’s their call and I’ll move on.”
The Monstar has won seven races – five on his home track and one each at Swan Hill and Gundagai.
Cavanough also has Lampedusa, Just A Bullet and Another Rush entered for Randwick.
Of the trio, Cavanough rates Another Rush as a horse of the future and a win in a race restricted to country-trained horses will earn the four-year-old a chance to be part of The Championships next year.
“I’m stepping him back in distance but he’s a pretty smart young horse,” Cavanough said.
“If he can win at Randwick I’d be tempted to back off him and set him for the Country Championships because he’s pretty progressive.”
