British trainer Luca Cumani believes that his best chance of winning tomorrow’s Melbourne Cup was lost when nine-year-old Bauer missed out on a race in the field.
Bauer was left at 25th on the ballot when the final field of 24 horses were released last Saturday.
It came after Bauer finished sixth in the Herbert Power Stakes before an extremely unlucky third in the Geelong Cup.
“It was a bit of bad luck as he seems to be in good form,” Cumani said.
“He ran quite well in the Herbert Power and again in the Geelong Cup. It’s just a shame that he didn’t finish a little bit closer in either of those two races, then he would have got in.”
However, Cumani still has two chances in the Cup in Drunken Sailor and Manighar.
Drunken Sailor did not run in the Cup last year after failing in his two previous starts.
“His form indicates he’s a better horse this year and he’s favoured by the draw (barrier eight),” Cumani said.
“But you’ll have to talk to him about it because it depends which side of the bed he gets out really and we’re going to try to make sure he gets out on the right side on Tuesday morning.”
The trainer is hoping Managhar’s performance will be helped by the addition of blinkers to his gear.
“Manighar been running solidly but he hasn’t quite won,” he said.
“We need to find that little bit extra that’s why we’ve put blinkers on him.
“I can see him running a good race.”
