Top international raider targeting the 2010 Melbourne Cup, Sans Frontieres has suffered a blow in their Cup campaign after receiving a 2kg penalty today for their win in the Irish St Leger over the weekend.
The Jeremy Noseda-trained Sans Frontieres had their Melbourne Cup odds slashed to $11 at Sportsbet, firming into the second favourite behind reigning champ Shocking ($8) after the in-form Galileo five-year-old won the Group 1 Irish St Leger (2800m) at The Curragh on Saturday.
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However the impressive win, Sans Frontieres’ third straight victory, has earned the horse an additional 2kg from the VRC’s chief handicapper Greg Carpenter in the 2010 Melbourne Cup weights.
Originally allocated 55kg for the 150th Melbourne Cup, due to run as Race 7 at Flemington on Tuesday November 2, if he makes the Melbourne Cup Field Sans Frontieres must now carry 57kg which is the same allocated to 2009 winner Shocking.
Carpenter was reportedly very impressed with the quality of Sans Frontieres’ St Leger victory.
“The determining factors in arriving at the penalty were the relativity to the horse he beat in the St Leger, Profound Beauty, and given the authority of the performance, his proximity in the weights to horses like Alandi, Shocking and Rite of Passage,” Carpenter said.
Whether connections of the lightly raced St Leger winner, Sans Frontieres having jumped just nine times for four wins, continue with plans to travel Down Under is still to be decided.
Noseda had earlier commented that Melbourne Cup plans would be abandoned if Sans Fronteires was too heavily weighted for the $6 million handicap.
Only one Irish St Leger winner has won the Melbourne Cup in the same year, Vintage Crop back in 1993.
Sheikh Hamdan’s European mare Eastern Aria has also received a penalty from Carpenter today after her Group 2 DFS Park Hill Stakes (2900m) win at Doncaster last Thursday night.
The Mark Johnston-trained five-year-old was given an extra 1kg bringing her up to 51kg, improving her chances of gaining a start in the 2010 Melbourne Cup as she moved up the order of entry
Eastern Aria is currently a $51 chance for the 2010 Melbourne Cup through Sportsbet.
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