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Melbourne Cup winner to attempt rare feat in Caulfield Cup.
Gold Trip won't be the first horse to run in a Caulfield Cup with 58.5kg when he steps out in Saturday's $5 million Group 1.
It's almost 10kg less than the 68kg, or equivalent of, that Bernborough lumped in 1946, while Redcraze owns the weight-carrying record for a winner after scoring under 63kg in 1956.
But a horse carrying 58.5kg in the world's richest 2400-metre handicap is not something we see too often these days.
In fact, the only horse who has attempted it since Subzero finished 12th under 58.5kg in 1992 was Anthony Van Dyck, who finished a narrow runner-up to Verry Elleegant with 58.5kg in 2020.
But that's not to suggest the Caulfield Cup hasn't been a race for horses towards the head of the weights in recent years.
Durston carried 51.5kg last year but you have to go back to Boom Time (52kg) in 2017 for the previous winner to carry less than 55kg.
This century, Northerly (2002), Dunaden (2012) and Admire Rakti (2014) all won under 58kg, Best Solution (2018) won with 57.5kg, while Viewed carried 57kg in 2009.
Viewed won it the year after claiming the Melbourne Cup, the first time that had happened since Rising Fast in 1955, and Gold Trip will be looking to do likewise this year.
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained import charged to the head of betting off winning the premier local lead-up, the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes.
Of the past 10 Caulfield Cup winners trained in either Australia or New Zealand, seven had their final lead-up run in the 2000-metre set-weights-and-penalties event at Flemington.
Runner-up West Wind Blows, Soulcombe (third), Duke De Sessa (sixth), Francesco Guardi (seventh), Right You Are (11th) and Emissary (12th) are the others in this year's Caulfield Cup who ran in the Turnbull.
Incentivise and Verry Elleegant completed the Turnbull/Caulfield Cup double, something eight other horses have achieved.
They are also among 16 Turnbull winners who have started in the Caulfield Cup since 1990, 13 of whom started favourite.
The three that didn't were Let's Elope, who won at $8 in 1991, Aerosmith, who ran seventh as $4 second favourite in 1998, and All Our Mob, who finished 14th at $10 in 1995.
Gold Trip is in line to also start favourite in the race that saw seven-straight winners at double-figure odds between 2008 to 2014 but has seen favourites successful in four of the past eight editions.
