Bart Cummings' Melbourne Cup gamble with stable star Precedence - Herald Sun

Melanie Fox walks with Precedence at Bart Cummings' Saintly Place stables in Melbourne. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

THE maestro Bart Cummings is going against his proven Melbourne Cup-winning formula and is instead relying on a high attrition rate or the intervention of the Victoria Racing Club committee for his stayer Precedence to get into the field for the $6.2 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday.

Precedence, an impressive Moonee Valley Cup winner last Saturday, is 29th in order of entry for the Melbourne Cup and in very real danger of missing a start.

CHECK OUT PRECEDENCE AND THE CUP CONTENDERS

Cummings and his co-trainer, grandson James, had nominated Precedence for both the Mackinnon Stakes and Lexus Stakes at Flemington on Saturday but when the fields for Derby Day were declared yesterday, the eight-year-old gelding was not among final acceptors.

The winner of both races is exempt from the Melbourne Cup ballot.

Bart Cummings kept his hopes of alive of starting his 88th runner in the Melbourne Cup when veteran galloper Precedence won his second Moonee Valley Cup on Saturday.

Bart Cummings has won 12 Melbourne Cups and used Derby Day to finetune 11 of his winner - Light Fingers (1965), Galilee (1966), Red Handed (1967), Think Big (1975), Gold And Black (1977), Hyperno (1979), Let's Elope (1991), Rogan Josh (1999) and Viewed (2008) all contested the Mackinnon, while Think Big (1974) and Kingston Rule (1990) lined up in the Lexus.

The trainer's champion, Saintly, was his only Cup winner that didn't race on Derby Day, his final lead-up race being his epic 1996 Cox Plate win.

James Cummings said it was decided that starting Precedence on Derby Day in either race would be detrimental to the horse's chances in the Melbourne Cup.

"The plan all along has been to go from the Moonee Valley Cup to the Melbourne Cup and we didn't want to change that at the last minute,'' co-trainer James Cummings said.

"Precedence is really thriving on the lighter preparation we have given him this spring and we felt his best opportunity in the Melbourne Cup would be if we went straight into the race and not run Derby Day.

"His best Melbourne Cup effort was when he came off a Moonee Valley Cup win in 2010.

"We just have to keep our fingers crossed he makes the field - our owner Dato Tan Chin Nam is confident the horse will get into the race so I hope he is right.''

Bart Cummings is hoping Precedence sneaks into the Melbourne Cup field. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

Precedence has started in three Melbourne Cups, finishing eighth (2010), 11th (2011) and ninth (2012). His top 10 finishes came after running in the Moonee Valley Cup and then going straight into the Flemington two-miler.

In 2011, Precedence ran ninth in the Mackinnon then 11th in Dunaden's Melbourne Cup.

Precedence's only hope now of getting into the 24-horse Melbourne Cup field is if there is a number of withdrawals from stayers ranked above him in the order of entry, or if the committee exercises its discretionary powers to elevate the stayer into the Cup field.

There is a growing groundswell of support to get the Cummings-trained stayer into Tuesday's race.

Corporate bookmaking firm Sportingbet has even started a Twitter campaign calling it "Give Bart the chance to make it 13 in '13".