Big owner Lloyd Williams has said what was on a lot of people's lips...That 1.5kgs penalty for Precedence's MV Cup win, which enabled him to move close to a Melbourne Cup start, is a rather questionable one. In fact, Lloyd is spitting chips and accusing racing authorities of pulling off a stunt to help Bart Cummings get the stayer into the Cup field. The Age reports: 'In an extraordinary attack, Williams said Greg Carpenter's penalty for Precedence was excessive to the point of being ''appalling

Big owner Lloyd Williams has said what was on a lot of people's lips...That 1.5kgs penalty for Precedence's MV Cup win, which enabled him to move close to a Melbourne Cup start, is a rather questionable one. In fact, Lloyd is spitting chips and accusing racing authorities of pulling off a stunt to help Bart Cummings get the stayer into the Cup field. The Age reports: 'In an extraordinary attack, Williams said Greg Carpenter's penalty for Precedence was excessive to the point of being ''appalling'' and ''incompetent'' as Precedence had beaten only a weak field.''That was the worst thing I have ever seen in my 45 years of racing,'' Williams said. ''It made no sense and was purely a public relations stunt for the Melbourne Cup. It was appalling. The height of incompetence.''

The Precedence penalty issue fired up when Greg Carpenter announced he would give Precedence another 1.5kgs. It's the same penalty he gave him last month after his JRA Cup win and took him to 53.5kgs - but Lloyd Williams is maintaining the penalty - the same allocated to Descarado after he won the Caulfield Cup and a full kilogram less than the import Americain received for his Geelong Cup win - makes no sense. he says:''There is no justifiable reason for giving that horse such a penalty other than to get another Bart Cummings horse in the Melbourne Cup...He beat a 100-rater [Above Average] in a fairly weak Moonee Valley Cup field. I've had two horses, Gallic and Zipping, win that same race over the past few years and neither of them were considered good enough to get any sort of penalty.''

Lloyd Williams, of course, can be accused of grumbling because Precedence is now above his import Mourayan and his 4YO Linton on the Melbourne Cup elimination order. But Greg Carpenter is rejecting the popular owner's claims. He says he's comfortable with his decision to penalise Precedence. He says Precedence now meets Linton half a kilo worse off at the weights after having beaten that horse in the JRA Cup carrying one kilogram more. He was then beaten by Linton in the Herbert Power Stakes when carrying two kilograms more. ''The penalty takes him to one place ahead of Mourayan, who has won two races in his career - a two-year-old maiden and a two-year-old listed race,'' Carpenter says.

Third declarations for the Melbourne Cup are taken on Monday morning. Precedence is likely to move up to about 24th or 25th in order in the 24-horse field.