Herbert Power Stakes winner Amralah is virtually assured of a Melbourne Cup start, receiving a two kilogram penalty for his Group Two win.
The Lloyd Williams-owned horse now has 53.5kg in the Cup and is 27th on the order of entry for the 24-horse field.
Racing Victoria executive general manager – racing, Greg Carpenter, said he was impressed by the strength of Amralah’s win in Saturday’s Herbert Power.
“Since the weights were released for the Melbourne Cup Amralah has won the Listed Tokyo City Cup in Adelaide and was enormously impressive winning the Group Three Herbert Power Stakes on Saturday after knuckling at the start and circling the field mid-race to score by three lengths,” Carpenter said.
“I was most impressed by the strength of his win in the Herbert Power and have elected to penalise him 2kg in the Melbourne Cup which is the same penalty afforded to last year’s Herbert Power winner Big Memory and the 2005 winner Leica Falcon.”
The last horse to complete the Herbert Power-Melbourne Cup double in the same year was Rogan Josh in 1999.
The Gai Waterhouse-trained Excess Knowledge has also moved up the Melbourne Cup order from 63 to 45 after passing the first ballot clause with his Herbert Power second.
Amralah’s Herbert Power win also guarantees him a start in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup (2400m) but Williams says he will not run.
The horse is now a $16 chance for the Melbourne Cup with Japanese horse Fame Game the $7 favourite ahead of the Chris Waller-trained Preferment at $10.
