Weights for Boxing Day’s Summer Cup 2017 at Royal Randwick have been released with the Joe Pride-trained warhorse Destiny’s Kiss allocated the 59kg top kilos.

Destiny’s Kiss will carry top weight in the 2017 Summer Cup field on Boxing Day in Sydney. Photo: Steve Hart.

Heading the Boxing Day races on December 26, this summer’s Group 3 $150,000 Summer Cup (2000m) attracted 15 early entries this week.

Racing NSW subsequently released weights on the handicap clash and nine-year-old Destiny’s Kiss has been lumped with the big weight.

The Power of Destiny gelding is out to atone for his dead last as a $101 roughie in the Group 2 Villiers Stakes (1600m) over the Randwick mile last weekend.

Prior to that he won a Listed 2400m race at the track in October, the step-up in distance to help him close the gap on Tuesday.

Destiny’s Kiss ran sixth in last year’s Summer Cup results and was also third in the 2013 edition of the end-of-year feature.

Reigning Summer Cup winner Red Excitement (57.5kg) is also set to return and defend his title, Gerald Ryan’s now eight-year-old out to join I’m Imposing (2013-14) as the latest back-to-back champ.

The Excites gelding is out to break a lengthy drought going back to January’s Listed Gosford Cup (2100m), which he won on the back of a three length Summer Cup romp home last December.

Red Excitement was backing-up from a third in last year’s Group 3 Festival Stakes (1500m) for his Summer Cup win with 57kg and brings in the same form line in 2017.

He ran third to Testashadow in the Festival Stakes on December 2 before his last start seventh in the Villiers Stakes when only 2.4 lengths beaten home by the Queensland-trained winner Crack Me Up.

Gary Portelli’s Festival Stakes winner Testashadow is the other heaviest weighted Summer Cup nominee with 57kg, the six-year-old out to improve on his close Villiers Stakes sixth.

A Magic Millions Carnival bid on January 13 is on the line for Testashadow in the Summer Cup, the galloper to target the $1 million Magic Millions Trophy (2200m) at the Gold Coast all going well.

Three other horses are also allocated over the 53kg Summer Cup minimum weight including Richard Laming’s in-form mare Payroll (54kg).

The five-year-old daughter of Not A Single Doubt has run top three in her past three starts including two Group 2 Flemington placings from the spring.

She was last seen saluting at Ladbrokes Park on November 18 in the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes (1800m) and shapes-up as a genuine danger in Sydney on Boxing Day.

Other notable Summer Cup nominations include perennial fourth placegetter Mighty Lucky who won the race back in 2015 and Kris Lees’ French import Singing coming off a Doomben win over 2000m from earlier in the month.

See below for the full Summer Cup 2017 nominations and weights, the final field and markets at Ladbrokes.com.au set for release on Thursday.

2017 Summer Cup Nominations & Weights

Royal Randwick – 26/12/2017