So You Think to give Bart 13th Cup

Controversy surrounded the start of So You Think's spring campaign when trainer Bart
Cummings was forced to reveal the Cox Plate winner had undergone a throat operation.
So You Think missed the autumn and once the surgery was made public, many so-called
experts said he would never be the same again.
He's not. He's better.
So good that he is now considered among the world's best and is the dominant
favourite to give Cummings a remarkable 13th Melbourne Cup win at Flemington on
Tuesday after four consecutive Group One wins including the Cox Plate and Saturday's
Mackinnon Stakes.
The trainer has vowed to be at Flemington although ill health has been his companion
for the past six months and a recurrence of a respiratory problem threatened to keep
him away from the Cup.
"He wouldn't miss it," Cummings' son and fellow trainer Anthony said.
He has hardened stayer Zavite in the Melbourne Cup and would like nothing more than
to see the initials A J beside the name Cummings on the trophy but concedes it is
more than likely to be J B.
Like the trainers of the other runners in the race, Cummings has been asked few
questions about his horse over the past few days but has answered many about So You
Think.
Duncan Grimley, racing manager for John Singleton who has Once Were Wild in the Cup,
has had a long career in the bloodstock industry and spent many years at Coolmore.
He said Once Were Wild was a genuine lightweight chance, but didn't think she could
beat So You Think.
"He is simply the best in the world," Grimley said.
"No horse does what he does, he is the best in the world right now."
The chink in So You Think's armour his rivals are looking for is whether he can run
a strong 3200 metres.
Most answer their own question.
"If it was anyone else but Bart training him you would say `no'," has been the
common response.
The biggest threat may come from a surprising source with emerging stayer Maluckyday
the one the punters wanted at Monday's Call of the Card as they snubbed last year's
winner Shocking and the proven European stayers who are here in record numbers.
Maluckyday forced his way into the field with victory in Saturday's Lexus Stakes and
is now the $9 second favourite with So You Think between $3 and $3.40.
So You Think goes into the Cup at just his 12th start, Maluckyday at his ninth.
Maluckyday is owned by Nick Moraitis who celebrated one of the great Cup wins in
1997 when Might And Power led all the way to stave off Doriemus.
Behind every runner there is a story, a reason it can win, a theory why it won't.
But somehow it seems like the planets have aligned to deliver the historic 150th
Melbourne Cup to its most successful trainer.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email is intended for the use of the addressee only. If you receive this email
in error, please delete it immediately. This email may contain information which is
confidential and/or legally privileged. You must not use or disclose the contents of
this email, or add the sender's email address to any database, list or mailing list
unless you are expressly authorised to do so. The statements or views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender and are not those of Australian
Associated Press Pty Ltd (AAP). These statements are not binding on AAP, except
where the sender expressly and with authority, states them to be. AAP is unable to
review the contents of all the email on its system. To the extent permitted by law,
AAP disclaims all liability for any loss or damage caused by the contents of this
email. www.aap.com.au


Delete & Prev | Delete & Next