Five Melbourne Cup hopefuls get one last chance to force their way into the field in the $500,000 Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m), with 2023 Cup runner-up Soulcombe, in-form Sydney stayer So You Are and Ciaron Maher’s Kings Valley among them.
The Bendigo Cup is race 8 at Bendigo on Wednesday 28 October, with a 4:55pm AEDT start, according to the Bendigo Advertiser. Taramansour has been scratched, JustHorseRacing reported, leaving 14 runners.
The five still chasing a Melbourne Cup start are The Euphrates (25th in the order of entry), So You Are (28th), Litzdeel (33rd), Kings Valley (36th) and Soulcombe (39th), racing.com reported. The top 24 make the field after final acceptances close at 4:30pm on Saturday.
Read more: Melbourne Cup Third Acceptances: 39 Remain as Half Yours Drops Out
Soulcombe needs a top-three finish
Chris Waller’s eight-year-old is outside the field because he hasn’t yet met the first ballot clause, which needs a placing in an internationally recognised black-type race beyond 2300m, racing.com reported. His second in the 2023 Melbourne Cup no longer counts.
A top-three finish at Bendigo would lift him into the field. He is on a comeback after a second tendon injury, but his form has been improving, including a strong sixth in the Geelong Cup behind new Melbourne Cup favourite Point Of Law. Nash Rawiller rides from barrier 4.
So You Are and Kings Valley
Bjorn Baker’s So You Are has won his last three starts, all stakes races in Sydney, including the ATC St Leger (2600m) at Randwick on October 17. Even after two Cup penalties, Baker said on Saturday his stayer was still on the wrong side of the order. “He’s won three black-type races in a row, got two penalties and we are still out of the race as it stands so it’s pretty frustrating,” he told racing.com.
A win would earn So You Are another penalty, which racing.com said would almost certainly push him into the field. Rachel King rides from barrier 1 with 58.5kg.
Kings Valley ran in the Caulfield Cup and was second in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup at Flemington on Saturday. The Bendigo Advertiser reported he must win to have a chance of a Melbourne Cup start. Ethan Brown rides from barrier 12.
Read more: Juja Kibo Wins Moonee Valley Gold Cup to Book Melbourne Cup Spot
The Euphrates and Litzdeel
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s The Euphrates carries top weight of 60kg with Jett Stanley aboard after finishing 10th in the Geelong Cup. Danny O’Brien’s Litzdeel, ridden by Damian Lane, would need a decent penalty out of the race to move into the Cup field, according to racing.com.
“It shows that trainers and the industry treat the Bendigo Cup as a key lead-in race to the Melbourne Cup,” Bendigo Jockey Club chief executive Paul Scullie told the Bendigo Advertiser.
The Melbourne Cup is run at Flemington on Tuesday 3 November.
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