Geelong Cup hero Onesmoothoperator handed 1kg penalty for Group 1 Melbourne Cup

Onesmoothoperator has been handed a penalty for the Melbourne Cup on the strength of his Geelong Cup triumph on Wednesday.

UK raider and Onesmoothoperator received a 1kg penalty for the $8m Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) after his dominant Group 3 Geelong Cup triumph.

The Brian Ellison-trained English stayer, to be ridden by Craig Williams on the first Tuesday in November, moved from 50kg to 51kg and jumped 11 spots in the Order of Entry to 22nd.

Racing Victoria head of handicapping David Hegan announced the penalty on Thursday.

“Onesmoothoperator showed terrific acceleration to put the race away with 100m remaining after making an early run around the field,” Hegan said.

“It was a dominant victory, displaying both stamina and an impressive turn of foot.

• Williams eyes Melbourne Cup with Geelong Cup winner

“The commanding victory demonstrated a 1kg penalty was appropriate when we consider the opposition, those horses around him in the ballot, his form from Europe and his performance rating in winning (the Geelong Cup).

“With his rise to 51kg, both The Map (sixth in the Geelong Cup) and Interpretation (second) will meet him 1kg better in the Melbourne Cup for yesterday’s defeat, whilst the third placegetter Muramasa will meet him 2.5kg better.”

The penalty puts Onesmoothoperator ahead of Interpretation (23rd) and Muramasa (25th) in the Order Of Entry.

It is the fourth time in the past 10 years a Geelong Cup winner has been given a 1kg penalty with Steel Prince (2020) the most recent.

The withdrawals of Warmonger, Military Mission, Coco Sun and Berkshire Breeze has left 51 horses in the hunt for a spot in the final field of 24 in the Melbourne Cup on November 5.

Originally published as Geelong Cup hero Onesmoothoperator handed 1kg penalty for Group 1 Melbourne Cup