Connections of So You Are are hopeful that a more favourable rehandicap will be assigned for the Melbourne Cup following their recent victory at Bendigo.
The Bjorn Baker-trained stayer has been penalised 0.5kg twice for the Melbourne Cup after achieving two recent wins in Sydney: the Colin Stephens Stakes (2400m) and the ATC St Leger Stakes (2600m). Subsequently, the horse competed in Melbourne, securing the Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) on Wednesday.
So You Are is currently ranked outside the top 24 positions for the 2026 Melbourne Cup (3200m), which is scheduled for November 3. To qualify, the horse requires an additional 1.5kg on top of the 1kg already received.
A penalty of 1kg would place So You Are at number 25, while an additional 0.5kg would see him at number 26. This scenario would require two horses currently within the top 24 to not accept their entries when final declarations are finalised on Saturday.
Racing Victoria’s head of handicapping, David Hegan, is expected to issue any revised handicap on Thursday.
Under Rachel King, So You Are started as the $3.60 favourite and achieved a three-quarter length win over Berkeley Square ($31). Litzdeel ($9.50) finished a half-length behind in third position.
Baker’s racing manager, Luke Hilton, stated that the 3200m distance of the Melbourne Cup would be suitable for the stayer, should he gain a start.
“He ran 26 (hundred metres) the other day and was pulling away,” Hilton explained. “He doesn’t win by big margins, which probably counts against him in terms of getting a little bit more from the handicappers, but he just keeps doing it so you can’t knock winning form. He can’t do any more, it’s been a bit frustrating. He’s done everything he can, the horse, he deserved to be there and hopefully that’s enough to get him in. It’s been a great campaign, he’s just got better and better each time. He relaxed beautifully today. Gates are a big help, and he was able to get a good and Rach put him into the race when she was ready to go and he was tough.”
King noted that So You Are seemed to perform better racing left-handed, a change from his previous runs in Melbourne during last year’s Spring Carnival when he hadn’t performed to his usual standard.
“He had had a couple of runs in Melbourne and probably not run up to standard before, so it was good to see him get it done the other way around,” King said. “He’s just a horse in really good form. He’s tough, he puts himself on speed, he makes life easy and he doesn’t want to let one get past him. Fingers crossed they’re nice to us now and let us in.”
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