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Owner Lloyd Williams will rely on on the lightly-raced Practiced in Wednesday's $250,000 Bendigo Cup after deciding to reserve Melbourne Cup entry Excluded for a start at Flemington on Saturday.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Williams' powerful Macedon Lodge stable has decided to reserve Bendigo Cup topweight Excluded for the Lexus Stakes on Saturday in the hope he can win and grab a place the final field for next Tuesday's $6 million Melbourne Cup.
Excluded and the Queensland stayer Spechenka were the only Melbourne Cup second acceptors in the Bendigo Cup.
Excluded has only 50kg in the Melbourne Cup and is only 43rd on the Melbourne Cup order of entry. He needs to win the Lexus as that race gives the winner ballot exemption for the Melbourne Cup.
Williams and his private trainer Robert Hickmott will be chasing back-to-back Bendigo Cups having produced the quinella 12 months ago when Tanby beat stablemate At First Sight.
Should Spechenka win the Bendigo Cup he will be eligible for a Melbourne Cup penalty but it would need to be significant as he is well down the order of entry.
Spechenka has only 50.5kg in the Melbourne Cup and is 39th on the order of entry with 50.5kg.
Other key acceptors for the Bendigo Cup include Cranbourne Cup winner Boom 'N' Zoom, dual G1 winner Fiumicino and the Darren Weir-trained Puissance De Lune.