Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti is in doubt for the $6.2 million race, with his owner warning if the horse is given a penalty for his emphatic win in the Caulfield Cup he will most likely be saved for the Japan Cup instead.
Riichi Kondo, one of Japan’s most powerful owners, said he would be “deeply concerned” if Admire Rakti was re-handicapped above his already allotted topweight of 58 kilograms in the Cup.
“This horse has not raced for some time and he has won the Caulfield Cup, and then he has only two weeks to get ready for the Melbourne Cup,” Kondo said. “Extra weight would be a worry because I must have the horse’s welfare to think of. I would be worried and concerned if he was to get any more than 58 on Melbourne Cup day. Back in Japan 58 is the highest weight allotted to any horse, so if he gets above that I will be worried.”
Melbourne Racing Club chairman tweeted that he had dinner with Admire Rakti’s owner on Sunday night and confirmed Fairfax Media’s story. Kondo said the Melbourne Cup was not the only race available for Admire Rakti, including the Japan Cup on November 30. The stayer ran fourth in that race last year.
Because of the lack of a headline horse in this year’s nominations for the two cups, weights for the final field in the Caulfield Cup were raised 2 kilograms to ensure a topweight of 58, while the conditions of the Melbourne Cup state the top-weighted horse (Admire Rakti) must be handicapped on 58 kilograms.
Racing Victoria handicapper Greg Carpenter, the man given the job of announcing any penalty to Admire Rakti for his Caulfield Cup win, which will come at 11.30am on Monday is clearly aware of the pressure he is under. He said the decision whether to penalise the Japanese stayer was the most difficult job he has had in a decade of assessing Melbourne Cup weights.
