Last Saturday’s The Metropolitan winner Foundry has received a 1kg penalty for both the 2017 Caulfield Cup and the 2017 Melbourne Cup.

Foundry, above in dark blue and white colours, has been given a 1kg penalty for both the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup. Photo by Steve Hart.

The Robert Hickmott trained, Lloyd Williams owned Foundry scored his first win since his victory at Flemington in February 2014 when he finished over the top of his rivals to beat Big Duke and Chocante to take out the Group 1 $750,000 The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick last weekend.

Racing Victoria (RV) Executive General Manager Racing – Greg Carpenter issued a 1kg penalty for both Cups, which pushed the Irish import’s weight up to 51kg for both the Group 1 $3.15m BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 21 and the Group 1 $6.25m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 7.

The eight year old stayer is now number forty-four in the order of entry for the Caulfield Cup and sixtieth in the order of entry for the Melbourne Cup.

“Foundry defeated Big Duke (55kg) by half a length with 4.5kg less weight,” Carpenter told racing.com.

“The one kilogram penalty now takes him to within 2.5kg of Big Duke in the handicap for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.”

Kiwi mare Bonneval escaped a penalty for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups following her emphatic win in the Group 1 $750,000 Hyland Race Colours Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield last Sunday and has skipped to the top of the Caulfield Cup betting at Ladbrokes.com.au alongside of the Darren Weir trained Humidor while Foundry is marked as a $34 chance.

Foundry is also posted at $34 in the Melbourne Cup betting which has his stablemate and last year’s winner Almandin as the $6 favourite.