Former New Zealand stayer Patrick Erin has been given a 2kg penalty for both the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup following his last stride win in the Group 1 $750,000 The Heineken 3 Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick last Saturday.

Patrick Erin, above in black and white and purple colours, has earned a 2kg penalty for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups for his win in The Metropolitan at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.

Patrick Erin scored his first win for trainer Chris Waller since crossing the Tasman when he beat his stablemate Brimham Rocks and the Lindsay Park trained Sikandarabad in a three way photo finish.

Racing Victoria’s Greg Carpenter said that Patrick Erin produced his best staying performance since joining the Waller stable and the 2kg penalty will see the seven year old’s weight lifted to 52kg in the Group 1 $5m Stella Artois Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 20 and 52kg in the Group 1 $7.3m Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 6.

“Patrick Erin is lightly raced for a seven-year-old and whilst Saturday’s winning margin was narrow I thought it was a career best performance and certainly a big step up from his form prior to the release of weights,” Carpenter told racing.com.

Trainer Chris Waller said that Patrick Erin could have his next start in the $500,000 St Leger Stakes (2600m) at Randwick on October 13 before heading to Melbourne to tune up for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

“The St Leger here in two weeks and obviously you’ve got the Cups in Melbourne. Two miles is really going to suit him to hit his peak,” Waller said.

“I could just see him improving. He’s a tough horse.”

Patrick Erin is marked at $31 for the Caulfield Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au while in the Melbourne Cup the former Kiwi stayer is listed as a $61 chance.