/ Editor / 26 June 2007 /

Dual Ascot Gold Cup winner Yeats may well find himself on a fairer handicap for the Melbourne Cup than last year when he carried top weight into seventh place in Australia's greatest horse race.

Jockey Mick Kinane hinted that connections might not be too keen to make the trans- continental journey again if their charge were to be even more harshly handicapped than in the 2006 renewal, but Racing Victoria's Chief handicapper Greg Carpenter appeared to offer a glimmer of hope, after considering the merit of Yeats' performance last week.

Carpenter said: "If anything, I think this year's field was slightly inferior to his dominant performance last year, when he won far more easily."

Yeats, matched at a high of 65 in Betfair's ante-post market for the November 6 event, is now down to 12 favourite to improve significantly on last year's effort. Other potential British challengers include Gold Cup runner-up Geordieland 40, Tawqeet 34, Soulacroix 46 and Scorpion 65.

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