Trainer Miguel Clement is eager to run his marathon-specialist Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile) in the G1 Melbourne Cup in Australia, but said he can't yet commit to the race because owner John Fort is not yet on board.The weights for the race were released Thursday and Tawny Port was assigned 55.5 kilograms, which translates to 122 pounds. The highweight is last year's winner, Half Yours (Aus) (St. Jean ({Ire}), who will be asked to carry 59 kilograms or 130 pounds.“I'm going to speak to connections, but we need to decide rather soon,” Clement said. “Do we go down under and run in the Melbourne Cup or the Grade I in Canada, in the Canadian International? I'm lobbying heavily to run him down under because I think it'd be a great experience, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I'm bold enough to do it. I would absolutely love the challenge and would love to go for it. Nevertheless, I believe the connections are hoping to keep him in North America. I would love to be competing on the world stage, but I have to respect the connections' preference.”When asked how the apparent dilemma would be solved, Clement replied: “I'll ponder it and I'm sure the connections would agree with us if we have a very strong feeling one way or the other, but at the moment it's pending. It's my preference to go, but I'm not adamant that I'll be in the top three. Fortunately enough, just the other day, we were in a similar predicament with Caroline St. Beat in the sense that we were supposed to run back in six days and the connections (Madaket Stables LLC and Steve Bouchey) were bold and brave enough to enter the horse the day before he ran out of Saratoga in order for me to have him reentered to win the Nashville Derby. So that I had true conviction and I was very adamant we should do it. As a result, it's impulse and intuition at times, which is not very rational. It's difficult to assess, but usually the horse gives you the answers more than us.”The two-mile Melbourne Cup will be run Nov. 3. The date of the mile-and-a-half Canadian International is Oct. 3. Tawny Port finished second in last year's Canadian International, losing by just a nose.Tawny Port was guaranteed a spot in the Melbourne Cup after winning the two-mile GII Belmont Gold Cup, which is a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Australian event. The Melbourne Cup purse is about $7.5 million U.S. dollars.Tawny Port has excelled at two miles, a rare distance in North American racing. He's raced three times at that distance or longer, winning the Belmont Gold Cup as well as this year's Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs, which is contested at 2 1/16 miles. He was second in the same race in 2025 at Kentucky Downs.“Without a doubt, the biggest plus is that it's two miles,” Clement said. “He has an affinity towards these turf marathons. Last year, he was second in the race at Kentucky Downs. This year, he won both of his races above a mile-and-a-half. That's a tremendous amount of money they run for in the Melbourne Cup. I believe his running style will suit him there. And it's more than likely that you'll have firm turf. It's a similar shape, running left-handed. So there's a lot of parallels to our style of racing.”While horses bred in the U.S. have won the Melbourne Cup, no horse based in the U.S. has ever won the race. Parchment Party (Constitution), also a Belmont Gold Cup winner, gave it a shot last year, but finished 20th.The post Clement Still Mulling Melbourne Cup Decision For Tawny Port appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.