Wednesday’s Group 3 Bendigo Cup over 2400m has attracted a weak field despite it being well timed for Melbourne Cup hopefuls to qualify for the $6.2 million race.
With the Bendigo Cup now in its second running over the distance of 2400m and holding Group 3 status, it holds the exact same race conditions as the Geelong Cup (recently upgraded to Group 2) and therefore the winner will gain a penalty in the 2012 Melbourne Cup ballot.
This year’s Bendigo Cup field has attracted just two horses still in the Melbourne Cup 2012 ballot, Spechenka (39th) and Excluded (42nd). Only the top 24 horses will gain a start in the Melbourne Cup.
Wins by Spechenka or Excluded will require monstrous winning margins if they are to rise high enough in the ballot with a surprise weight penalty. Spechenka currently carries 50.5kg in the Melbourne Cup ballot and Excluded, 50kg.
Past winners of the Geelong Cup have gained penalties of 0.5kg to 2kg which is enough to get horses balloted 25th to 31st into the starting 24. All of those horses will instead go to the Group 3 Lexus Stakes (2500m) or Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m), both held on Derby Day in a last ditch bid to gain a start in the Melbourne Cup three days later.
The winners of the Lexus Stakes and Mackinnon Stakes are automatically exempt from the Melbourne Cup ballot, but asking the victorious horses to back up their performances three days later is no easy task.
With the Bendigo Cup run four days before Derby Day, the extended break would drastically improve any Melbourne Cup chances.
When assessing the quality of field between the Bendigo Cup and two Derby Day races, the Bendigo Cup looks a much easier race to win.
Victory would not mean automatic qualification, but for Melbourne Cup hopefuls Moudre (53kg), Lost in the Moment (53kg), Brigantin (53kg), Ironstein (52.5kg), Prairie Star (53kg), Shahwardi (53kg) and Tanby (52.5kg), victory in the Bendigo Cup would have ensured a weight penalty and a near certainty of making the Melbourne Cup field.
Tanby won the 2011 Bendigo Cup and was penalised 1kg, identical to the penalty given to Geelong Cup winner Gatewood. Tanby however still fell short in the 2011 Melbourne Cup ballot.
The Bendigo Cup is only in its second year as a 2400m race with it being run prior to 2011 over 2300m. The increase to 2400m ensured the race would qualify horses for a Melbourne Cup weight penalty and ideally attract stronger fields.
Horses that are paid up for the Melbourne Cup at final acceptances but miss the field because they are not high enough on the ballot qualify for an additional $100,000 prize money if they win the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2600m on Emirates Stakes day, five days after the Melbourne Cup.
