Dubai: Cavalryman must defy a heavy impost of 57kg if he is to give Godolphin a maiden win in the A$6.1 million (Dh20.9m) Melbourne Cup at Flemington, Australia, in November.

The Saeed Bin Surour-trained stayer has been in rousing form this season, posting three victories, including one over the Melbourne Cup distance of 3,200 metres when successful in the Group 2 Artemis Goodwood Cup at Goodwood, England, in July.

He is one of five Godolphin entries in Australia’s most famous race, the weights for which were announced on Tuesday.

Willing Foe, who finished fourth behind Brown Panther in the Group 1 Irish St Leger at the Curragh on Sunday, is joined by Contributer, Gallatin and Tupac Amaru, all of whom are trained by Godolphin’s Australia-based handler John O’Shea.

The Melbourne Cup is one of Godolphin’s most sought-after prizes and Bin Surour has repeatedly said they will continue to pursue victory in the “race that stops a nation”.

“We will never give up and continue to send our best stayers in an attempt to win the race,” Bin Surour told Gulf News earlier this year.

“The Melbourne Cup is among the few major races that we have yet to conquer, like the Japan Cup and Kentucky Derby, so it will always be in our sights.

“We know that it takes a very special stayer to win the race, given the distance, the way that its run and the time of year.

“It’s a challenging two-mile event and suits our philisophy — to challenge for the biggest and toughest races in the world. I think we’ll get there sooner or later.”

Bin Surour’s first runner in the Cup was Faithful Son, who finished seventh in 1998. He has come close on three occasions as Central Park (1999), Give The Slip (2001) and Crime Scene (2009) all finished second.

The Emirati handler has helped Godolphin, which was founded in 1992, to amass 211 Group One victories across 12 countries in four continents. Godolphin runners have triumphed in 62 Classic races in Europe and the UAE.

Meanwhile, Japanese hope Admire Rakti tops the weights at 58kg, while stablemate Bande will have to carry 56.5kg.

Racing Victoria’s handicapper Greg Carpenter told the Herald Sun that, under the rules of racing, he had to have 58kg as the top weight and that as a result had to raise the weights of all runners by two kilograms.

English stayer Red Cadeaux has been given 57kg as he runs in a fourth consecutive Melbourne Cup.

Carpenter said: “The progression in the weights for Red Cadeaux is not as profound as that given to some other runners-up in recent times. However, he was high in the weights last year and has history against him, with no nine-year-old ever successful in the Cup.”