Defending title holder Happy Clapper has been given top weight of 59kg for the $3 million Doncaster Mile, two kilos more than he carried last year and one kilo more than fellow eight-year-old Hartnell.

The two are also Epsom Handicap winners over the course and distance with Happy Clapper successful in 2017 and Godolphin’s Hartnell the winner last spring.

Happy Clapper also ran second in the Doncaster in 2016 to Winx and was runner-up again a year later to It’s Somewhat.

Trained by Pat Webster, Happy Clapper ran second to Winx in the Apollo Stakes on February 16 and will meet her again in Saturday’s Chipping Norton Stakes before heading to Melbourne for the All-Star Mile.

Star colt The Autumn Sun is the highest-weighted three-year-old on 55kg, 6kg above the minimum for three-year-olds.

In Sydney Cup weights also released on Tuesday, Melbourne Cup winners Almandin (2016) and Rekindling (2017) are the top two in the handicap with 58kg and 56.5kg respectively.

Muntahaa, who ran ninth in the 2018 Melbourne Cup, is next on 55.5kg having been transferred from John Gosden to Lindsay Park.

The Doncaster is on the first day of The Championships, April 6, with the Sydney Cup (3200m) a week later.

Cups Betting has all the latest horse racing news and betting bonuses.