Juja Kibo has moved closer to securing a start in the prestigious Melbourne Cup following a handicapping adjustment after his dominant victory in The Metropolitan last Saturday.
The Ciaron Maher-trained stayer was given a 2kg penalty by Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper David Hegan for his decisive 1-3/4-length win over Aethelwulf at Randwick, where he carried 56.5kg in the 2400-metre race.
This revised weight of 53.5kg for the Melbourne Cup now places Juja Kibo at 34th in the order of entry, with the Cup field limited to 24 runners.
Juja Kibo also received a 1kg penalty for the Caulfield Cup, reflecting the differing weight scales of the major spring features.
“Juja Kibo’s Metropolitan performance was worthy of a handicap reconsideration after strongly defeating several key Cups rivals in impressive fashion and thus he advances 2kg in both races against both the weight for age scale and a number of runners from Saturday,” Hegan stated.
He further explained, “Due to the different weight scales in the Cups, he takes a 1kg penalty in the Caulfield Cup and a 2kg penalty in the Melbourne Cup.”
“In the Caulfield Cup, he moves from a true weight of 50kg to 52kg, which is an actual weight penalty of 1kg above the minimum, and he will now carry 52kg.”
“In the Melbourne Cup he rises from 51.5kg to 53.5kg which puts him 0.5kg below The Euphrates, who conceded him 2.5kg on Saturday when finishing third.”
“Juja Kibo progresses significantly in the order of entry for both races, climbing 11 places to 30th in the Caulfield Cup and 12 places to 34th in the Melbourne Cup.”
Maher’s other notable stayer from the weekend, Mr Monaco, also had his Melbourne Cup weight updated to 52.5kg for the 3200m Group 1 on November 3.
This equates to a 1.5kg penalty for the imported son of Territories, who is already exempt from the Melbourne Cup ballot thanks to his strong performance in The Bart Cummings (2520m) last Saturday.
“Mr Monaco was previously weighted in the Melbourne Cup at 1.5kg below fellow competitor Valiant King who ran third in the Bart Cummings, but now meets him on level terms with that 1.5kg increase,” Hegan commented.
Mr Monaco did not receive a rehandicap for the Caulfield Cup, maintaining his weight of 51kg and sitting in 33rd position on the updated order of entry following the weekend’s racing. You can find the best Australian betting sites to place your wagers on these upcoming feature races.
