Saint George, runner-up in the Caulfield Cup for trainer Ciaron Maher, has been withdrawn from Tuesday's Melbourne Cup. His exit hands the 24th and last place in the field to the Bendigo Cup winner So You Are.
An independent panel of diagnostic imaging specialists reviewed CT scans taken this week and judged Saint George to be at heightened risk of injury. The stable was offered a PET scan, done on Wednesday, but the panel held to its view. The stayer is now out of the rest of the Spring Racing Carnival as well as the Cup.
So You Are, trained by Bjorn Baker, was handed a one-kilogram penalty for his Bendigo Cup win. That was enough to keep him eligible, and Saint George's withdrawal on Thursday morning moved him from 25th to 24th in the order of entry. Without it he would have missed the race.
It was his third reweighting since handicaps came out last month, 2kg in all, and he will carry 54kg over 3200m at Flemington. Racing Victoria said the last 1kg rehandicap for a Bendigo Cup winner came in 2011; the past two winners got half a kilo each. Head of handicapping David Hegan called the Bendigo win "the best of So You Are's recent victories".
Source
Original summary by Proventier.