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Cup winner re-handicapped; Godolphin books McDonald; Ashburton called off again; Lees doesn’t doubt mare’s staying ability.

Cup winner re-handicapped

Admire Rakti has been given an extra half a kilogram for the $A6 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup and will now carry 58.5kg at Flemington.

Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper Greg Carpenter announced the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup winner’s penalty on Monday.

"While the Caulfield Cup was not run in fast time, Admire Rakti was enormously impressive making a long sustained run down the middle of the track and he was strong through the line at the end of 2400m suggesting that 3200m at Flemington would be to his liking,” he said.

"In making a decision on whether to penalise the horse in the Melbourne Cup for his maiden Group One triumph, I had to strike a balance between the terms on which those that finished behind him at Caulfield would meet him next start and the new wave of rivals that awaits him at Flemington.

"Internationals Red Cadeaux, Cavalryman, Willing Foe, Protectionist, Mutual Regard and Royal Diamond, and potentially Cox Plate runners like Fawkner and Silent Achiever, present a new challenge for Admire Rakti and this had to be considered when determining the penalty.”

No horse has won the Melbourne Cup with 58.5kg or more since Think Big in 1975.

Godolphin books McDonald

James McDonald has been booked by Godolphin to ride Willing Foe on the first Tuesday of November.

He was originally expected to partner Cavalryman in the $A6 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup, but has switched to the Dynaformer seven-year-old.

Willing Foe won the Listed Aston Park Stakes (2670m) in May and has since finished runner-up in the Gr.3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes (2670m) and was a last-start fourth in the Gr.1 Irish St Leger (2800m).

McDonald is also in line to ride Criterion in Saturday’s $A3 million Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) if Hugh Bowman loses his appeal against a careless riding suspension.

Ashburton called off again

A second attempt on Monday to stage the remainder of the Ashburton Racing Club’s meeting was again thwarted.

Jockeys had reported safety concerns after one race on Saturday and the fixture was subsequently called off.

“From the 800 metre mark to the 600 there was considerable sideways movement,” stipendiary steward Jeff McLaughlin said.

Take two on Monday followed the same pattern and the meeting was abandoned after one race.

“Riders came in after the first and said they had no confidence of riding competitively,” McLaughlin said.

A subsequent track inspection deemed the course to be unsafe to continue.

“You could definitely feel it moving under you and there were slip marks,” rider Matt Cameron said.

Lees doesn’t doubt mare’s staying ability

Kris Lees is optimistic that Lucia Valentina can master the 3200 metres of the $A6 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup.

The Broadmeadow trainer was buoyed by the New Zealand-bred mare’s effort to finish third in Saturday’s Gr.1 Caulfield Cup.

“I’m confident she could finish in the first five on that run,” he said. “I like the way she copped a fair bit of adversity and still savaged the line with the quickest last 200 metres of the race and still ran through the line.

“I think we’ve got to push on. She'll probably only get one chance at it. I'd like to think next year she'd be a weight-for-age horse”.