St Leger winner Highwayman will carry 56.5kg if he takes his chance in this year's Melbourne Cup.
He is just one of 10 that could bid to give Joseph O'Brien a third success in Australia's greatest race, with Saffie Osborne likely to rekindle her relationship with Persian King colt after becoming the first female jockey to ride a British Classic winner when the pair stormed to success at Doncaster last weekend.
O'Brien is readying an extremely formidable team to send down under and his charge Sons And Lovers has been allotted top weight among the international entries, receiving 57.5kg after posting arguably a career-best performance in the Kilternan Stakes last time out.
Defiantly -- 10/1 antepost favourite for the race -- also hails from the County Kilkenny yard and has been given 56.5kg after making his breakthrough at Group level at Deauville.
Reflecting on the strong international challenge, Victoria Racing Club chief Leigh Jordan said: "With such a strong international contingent nominated for our great race this year, it's hard to overlook Joseph O'Brien, looking for his third win in the race, already with his biggest set of nominations this year."
For the home team, last year's winner Half Yours will have to defy top weight if he is to defend his crown after being given 59kg. The six-year-old has history stacked against him, with Rain Lover the last horse to win the race carrying 59kg or more.
Co-trainer Tony McEvoy isn't surprised by the big weight that his star has been allotted, but still intends to have a crack at winning back-to-back Cups, saying: "I think it was pretty clear a little way out that we were going to get this weight. David Hegan [Racing Victoria handicapper] really hasn't had anywhere to turn, has he, with the new conditions of the race.
"We'll run the horse. He is a big strong fellow. The thing we haven't learned about this horse is some horses can really carry weight and it's whether he can."
The Melbourne Cup is one of the only major races that has evaded the grasp of Aidan O'Brien across his storied career and the Master of Ballydoyle still has four in contention.
Derby winner Christmas Day has been given 56.5kg in his quest to pull off an audacious double; Pierre Bonnard (55kg), Causeway (53kg) and Amelia Earhart (51kg) are the remaining trio that could help break his duck.
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.
