Bart Cummings has been hospitalised with a chest complaint

Bart Cummings has made another unwelcome trip to hospital this week with a chest complaint keeping him out of action indefinitely.

The issue is not as serious as the pneumonia which he’s been dealing with for the last few months but enough for doctors to keep him under observation.

He could be out by this weekend but he’s spent the vast majority of his time at the hospital in bed.

Despite that his spirits remain high and he’s confident of getting back to the action sometime very soon.

During last years spring there were serious concerns for Cummings health as he looked frail and weak on track but he was last sighted at Rosehill a fortnight ago where things looked decidedly better.

Cummings was actually at the hospital originally to see his wife Valmae but when the doctor had a chat to him he thought it might be better if he stuck around a bit longer.

“I went up to see my wife, she wasn’t well, and the doctor looked at me and said you had better stay here for a couple of days, too,” Cummings said.

“I’ve been a bit run down but I’m just about right now. It was a good time to be out of the cold weather.

“My wife has gone to rehab but is coming along okay. We are going pretty good now.”

He still hasn’t given up hope of being fit enough to travel to Randwick this Saturday where he has only the one runner, Procyon in the Centennial Park Handicap.

“I hope to be there but that is up to the doctor,” he said.

Unfortunately the midnight wakeup call wasn’t on offer for the master when So You Think raced in the Eclipse Stakes but he was relieved the horse got the chance to show his true colours.

“I’m snoring when he is racing’,” he said.

“At least the jockey rode him properly this time, he was too good for them.”

He says while he hasn’t found anything to rival the efforts of So You Think over the spring of the previous two seasons, he does have a couple of horses who can run a race.

Unfortunately Salade will not be one of them, the breakout two-year-old won’t have a spring campaign after winning the Pago Pago Stakes on debut and getting a Golden Slipper start in the Autumn.

“Salade sprained his leg but seems okay now,” Cummings said.

“He needs a good time off’, he’s had two months now but probably needs another two which means he will miss the spring. He’s a good horse for later on.”

In terms of ones to follow he’s sticking to the family with Do You Think touted as a bit of a hope but his main focus will be on Precedence and potentially a 13th Melbourne Cup title.

“Precedence’s getting prepared out of Melbourne and although it is wet and cold down there, he is doing a treat, I’m quite happy with him,” Cummings said.