Onesmoothoperator cops 2024 Melbourne Cup weight penalty

UK stayer Onesmoothoperator is safely in the Melbourne Cup field following a penalty after his dominant win in the Geelong Cup.

Onesmoothoperator registered a 2-½ length win in Wednesday’s Group 3 victory over 2400m and Racing Victoria Head of Handicapping David Hegan rehandicapped the stayer 1kg for the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 5.

The Brain Ellison-trained raider now has 51kg and has moved to number 22 in the Melbourne Cup’s order of entry, inside the field safety limit of 24.

Craig Williams, who scored on Onesmoothoperator in the Geelong Cup, has been booked for the ride in the Melbourne Cup.

Hegan said he was impressed with the acceleration Onesmoothoperator showed in the final 100m after making an early run around the field.

“The commanding victory demonstrated that a 1kg penalty was appropriate when we consider the opposition, those horses around him in the ballot, his form from Europe and his performance rating in winning on Wednesday,” Hegan said.

“With his rise to 51kg, both The Map (sixth in the Geelong Cup) and Interpretation (second) will meet him 1kg better in the Melbourne Cup for their defeat, whilst the third placegetter Muramasa will meet him 2.5kg better.”

The penalty puts Onesmoothoperator ahead of Interpretation and Muramasa in the Melbourne Cup Order of Entry who are numbers 23 and 25 respectively.

It is the fourth time in the last 10 years that a horse has been allocated a 1kg penalty following a Geelong Cup victory with Steel Prince (2020) the last horse to be issued the same penalty in the Melbourne Cup.

Warmonger, Military Mission, Coco Sun and Berkshire Breeze have been withdrawn from the Melbourne Cup, leaving 51 still in contention ahead of Monday’s third acceptances.

Onesmoothoperator’s Melbourne Cup odds have shortened dramatically, firming from $51 to $10 with betting sites after his impressive Geelong win.