So You Are has won the $500,000 Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m), giving the Bjorn Baker-trained stayer a big chance of forcing his way into the Melbourne Cup field.
Ridden by Rachel King from barrier 1 with 58.5kg, the favourite held off Berkeley Square by three-quarters of a length, with Litzdeel third, 1.25 lengths from the winner, according to Racing Australia’s interim results.
So You Are ran the 2400m in 2:28.83 on a Good 4 track at Bendigo. Berkeley Square is trained by Dan O’Sullivan and was ridden by Declan Bates, while Danny O’Brien’s Litzdeel was ridden by Damian Lane.
What it means for the Melbourne Cup
So You Are went into the race 28th in the Melbourne Cup order of entry, with only the top 24 making the field after final acceptances close at 4:30pm on Saturday.
Racing.com reported before the race that a Bendigo Cup win would not guarantee him a start, but that the extra weight penalty he would earn was almost certain to see him through to the first Tuesday in November.
Read more: Melbourne Cup Third Acceptances: 39 Remain as Half Yours Drops Out
It is a fourth win in a row for So You Are, who came into Bendigo after three straight stakes wins in Sydney, including the ATC St Leger (2600m) at Randwick on 17 October.
Baker had been frustrated that those wins had not been enough. “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 on Saturday. “We’ll probably go to Bendigo if it comes to that, but I’d prefer not to.”
Soulcombe misses out on a placing
Chris Waller’s Soulcombe, the 2023 Melbourne Cup runner-up, needed a top-three finish to lift himself into the Cup field but finished ninth under Nash Rawiller. He had not yet met the first ballot clause, which requires a placing in an internationally recognised black-type race beyond 2300m, racing.com reported.
Read more: Juja Kibo Wins Moonee Valley Gold Cup to Book Melbourne Cup Spot
Ciaron Maher’s Kings Valley finished fourth, 4.5 lengths from the winner, while The Euphrates, another Melbourne Cup hopeful, was 10th under top weight of 60kg. Taramansour and Affluential were scratched, leaving 13 runners.
The Melbourne Cup is run at Flemington on Tuesday 3 November.
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