If Weekend Hussler had beaten the handicapper in September when weights for this year's major spring cups were announced, the handicapper has well and truly caught up.
In the past 50 years, only Gay Icarus in 1971 has carried more weight as a four-year-old to win the Caulfield Cup.
The last four-year-old to win the race with more than 55.5kg was Sky Heights, who lumped 56.5 to victory in 1999. Coincidentally, that was also the last time weights were raised 1.5kg.
The 1.5kg rise across the board in weight for Saturday's Caulfield Cup will be more of a hindrance on Weekend Hussler than any other horse in the field, Victoria's chief handicapper Greg Carpenter said on Tuesday.
When Carpenter allotted Weekend Hussler 55.5kg for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, there were critics saying Ross McDonald's superstar had beaten the handicapper.
Carpenter said at the time that the four-year-old needed to turn in a 'performance of great merit' to win the Caulfield Cup.
But the difficulty rating had since increased due to the rise in weights which brought Weekend Hussler - as the top weight at final acceptance - up to 57kg in accordance with Victorian racing rules.
"It's fair to say all the weights have gone up 1.5kg but when you go from 55.5 to 57, the impact potentially on your performance is greater than say for a horse like Guillotine, who's also gone up 1.5kg but from only 50 to 51.5," he said.
"He's going to be an outstanding horse if he's going to be able to do the job on Saturday."
Making Weekend Hussler's task even more difficult was Carpenter's belief that the Cup had attracted an 'outstanding' field and certainly the best he had seen in his four years as the state's No.1 handicapper.
The field contains 11 different Group One winners - including Derby and Oaks winners from last season and last year's Caulfield Cup winner and runner-up - not to mention horses from Europe and a strong crop of New Zealanders.
All The Good was a last-start winner in one of Europe's richest handicaps, while Mad Rush was also a high-class European stayer, Carpenter said.
Kiwi trio Nom Du Jeu, Red Ruler and Boundless ran well in New Zealand's richest race, the Kelt Capital Stakes, behind Cox Plate co-favourite Princess Coup.
"At that number of individual Group One winners in the field, plus the overseas element and, if you want to put it that way, the resurgence to the NZ horses I think it's a classic Caulfield Cup," Carpenter said.