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Geelong Cup winner Gatewood is not assured of a start in the $6 million Melbourne Cup after receiving a one kilogram penalty from Racing Victoria.
The English galloper moves from 41st to 36th place in the Cup order of entry and connections will need at least a dozen higher qualified rivals to drop out to gain a start in the 24-horse field.
Connections have the option of running the horse in the Lexus or Mackinnon Stakes three days before the Melbourne Cup and winning one of those races to gain automatic qualification.
Gatewood was hoping to become the third successive horse to win the Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup double following in the footsteps of French raiders Americain and Dunaden.
The penalty takes Gatewood's Melbourne Cup weight to 52.5kgs.
In handing down the penalty to Gatewood after his Geelong Cup victory Racing Victoria handicapper Greg Carpenter said it is not his role to ensure the Geelong Cup winner earns a start in the Melbourne Cup.
The slow tempo of Wednesday's Geelong Cup and the small field influenced Carpenter in not giving Gatewood a bigger penalty.
"Giving account to the merit of the performance, the quality of the race, the manner in which it was contested and also the relevant weights of yesterday's opposition, I have penalised Gatewood 1kg," Carpenter said.
In winning the Geelong Cup Gatewood carried 2kgs more than runner-up Brigantin and has been allocated 0.5kg less the French stayer in the Melbourne Cup should he gain a start.
Topics: horse-racing, sport, geelong-3220, vic, australia, melbourne-3000, united-kingdom
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