Vwhat are people's thoughts on:
C

CHARLEVOIX

Could he be a Bart Cummings type horse or a Lexus Stakes (Hotham) type horse to get into the Cup field.

On paper he looks like a staying handicapper....hes paying big odds ($151 on Super TAB) but you never know..

Of the horses who are paying big odds.......who could feature in the Cup?

I like Harlem, his prep for the sydney cup seemed rushed, and i think he would prefer a firmer track than the sydney cup

I would not steer you away from him.

Also why didnt see Polarisatuon amongst the noms for the Melbourne Cup or Caulfield Cup - does anyone know why?

Hi guys:

In what could be ground-breaking news for the Melbourne Cup, Racing Victoria has given the best indication yet that, in future, the Caulfield Cup winner may not face an automatic re-handicap for the Melbourne Cup 17 days later.

RV's executive general manager of racing, Greg Carpenter, on Wednesday lamented the lost link between the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and said that he will make comment on the topic of the Cups penalty when weights for the one-and-a-half and two-mile handicaps are released on Tuesday.

"There has always been a wonderful link between the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup," Carpenter said. "That has been lost a little in the last decade as, of the last 10 Melbourne Cup winners, only one (Viewed in 2008) has run in the Caulfield Cup.

"I'm really keen to re-establish that link and I'll talk about that on Tuesday when I release the weights."

Carpenter confirmed that the issue of the Caulfield Cup penalty has resurfaced of late.

"That debate has been reignited in the last week or two," Carpenter said on Wednesday. "The Melbourne Racing Club is continuing their push for the Caulfield Cup winner not to get a (Melbourne Cup) penalty.

"The VRC (Victoria Racing Club), through their racing manager Martin Talty, has made it very clear that they are happy to leave it (decision on penalty) entirely up to me.

"I don't have to penalise the winner of the Caulfield Cup. They (VRC) would like to maintain the ability for the Caulfield Cup winner to be penalised if I feel it appropriate.

"So, one of my main research projects this year has been around that link. It's been a very hot topic again in the last two weeks."

We can forget about Order Of St George coming down.

OOST would get too much weight now, probably 58kg+ and Lloyd doesnt like horses in the Cup with 57kg or more, it seems 57kg is the point where he says "No" for one of his horses for the Cup.

Way too early to be betting

Racing Victoria on Tuesday morning moved to preserve the Caulfield Cup as a sought-after Spring Carnival feature by announcing dramatic changes to the way its winner is penalised into the Melbourne Cup 17 days later.

From this spring, the Caulfield Cup winner will not be re-penalised into the Melbourne Cup if it has already been allocated 56kg or more and alternatively, if the Caulfield Cup winner has less than 56kg in the Melbourne Cup, any potential re-handicap will not take the horse's Melbourne Cup weight beyond that mark.

RV's executive general manager of racing Greg Carpenter said at the release of the weights for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups on Tuesday that history over the past 40 years showed it was 'very difficult' for a Caulfield Cup winner to be placed in the Melbourne Cup with more than 56kg.

"The issue of the Caulfield Cup penalty has been widely discussed and the VRC (Victoria Racing Club) remain of the view that it's entirely appropriate for the winner of the Caulfield Cup to be penalised if the handicapper wishes to," Carpenter said.

"On the basis of the research we've done as a handicapping panel over the past 40-year period, it seems obvious it is very difficult to win a Caulfield Cup and then 17 days run in a Melbourne Cup with more than 56kg.

"So, for this year, should the winner of the Caulfield Cup already have 56kg or more in the Melbourne Cup, the Racing Victoria handicapping panel won't be issuing a penalty.

"Secondly if the winner of the Caulfield Cup has less than 56kg, the quantum of that penalty won't take the winner beyond 56kg."

He explained the reasons behind the historic move: "Since the Caulfield Cup was first run in 1881, there have been 11 dual winners of the race.

"However, that link seems to be evaporating a little. In the past 10 years, only Viewed, who won the Melbourne Cup in 2008, actually ran at Caulfield in the Caulfield Cup.

"In the 10 years prior to that, seven Melbourne Cup winners ran at Caulfield."

Carpenter said Racing Victoria's handicapping panel had visited the past to see where the Caulfield Cup stood these days and he said it was obvious the race was no longer the obvious option for Melbourne Cup contenders.

"Over the last 40 years there have been five dual winners - Let's Elope in 1991 won the Melbourne Cup with 51kg, Doriemus won with 54.5 and Ethereal with 52kg.

"Two other dual winners, Gurner's Lane won with 56kg in 1982 and Might And Power also took the double winning the Melbourne Cup with 56kg.

"In that period, eight winners of the Caulfield Cup have run in the Melbourne Cup with 56.5 or more and none of them have been able to be placed. The best of them was Elvstroem who ran fourth with 56.5."

Carpenter said the amendments to the way the Caulfield Cup winner is re-handicapped will bolster the race, but he said that it was important handicappers keep the right to penalise lower-weighted winners of the Caulfield Cup.

"The other important part of the decision that I want to emphasise, a horse than already has 56kg or more in a Melbourne Cup already obviously has a very established profile," he said.

"I think it's appropriate that we retain the right at this stage to penalise a Caulfield Cuip winner who is progressive and who is down in the weights and the evidence of Let's Elope and Ethereal prove that.

"It's an important change of view by the handicapping panel and we are hoping it will reignite the link between the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup and encourage horses high up in the weights in the Melbourne Cup to run at Caulfield with some surety about where they will be in the Melbourne Cup weights if they win."

Click here for the 2017 BMW Caulfield Cup weights.

Click here for the 2017 Emirates Melbourne Cup weights.

How does a dual Oaks winning, 4 year old mare get weighted at 51.5kgs? Egg Tart looks pitch forked into the race imho.

If Chris Waller ever had even the slightest regret at not running Winx as a 4yo mare when hindsight & weights tell us she would have invited to the winners stall then I think thoughts must be crossing his mind??

Egg Tart highly unlikely to run in the CC or MC I think Chris Waller has made that pretty clear already. 

I think I heard EGG TART was going Epsom Hcp, then Cox Plate.

So I doubt she'll appear in either of the Cups this spring. But to 3BM's point, her dam line is full of stamina, via IN THE PURPLE. To be honest, I don't think SEBRING holds her back in terms of running a trip, he's sired winners of quite a few black type staying races. He's a very versatile stallion.

I was on Almandid last year, and as impessive as hes been, he just won it last year and it is very very difficult to win 2 in a row. For what its worth Im on Albert (one of the Japanese horses) and an American Horse RedCardinal. If you are going to bet this early, Google maybe the top 20 in the market and try view a run or two from each horse over a week or so before putting any hard earned $$ down :)