Cumani Just Fails in Melbourne Again Viewed put up a brave performance to hold the late charge of British raider Bauer and present trainer Bart Cummings with a 12th victory in the Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Luca Cumani sent out two runners in Bauer and Mad Rush as he tried to better the half-length second he scored with Purple Moon last year. However, the Newmarket handler had to give best to a local runner once more with Viewed holding Bauer by a short head in a thrilling finish to the two-mile feature. Aidan O'Brien's Irish St Leger hero Septimus was among the leading contenders for the Group One race and he was smartly away under Johnny Murtagh. He was at the head of affairs early on before stablemates Alessandro Volta and Honolulu came through to take over pacemaking duties. The trio set a strong gallop and pulled around six lengths clear at one point, with Septimus leading into the Flemington straight. However, Blake Shinn had made stealthy progress aboard Viewed and produced his mount over two furlongs out to put daylight between himself and the field. Corey Brown was just hitting top gear on Bauer though, and he flew through the final furlong before just losing out by the narrowest of margins in the photo. Shinn told At The Races: "I got to the front way too early but he dug deep. He put in 110% today, he gave his all. He's a master, Bart. "I didn't want to do a Greg Hall and go off too early (with my celebration) so I just sort of waited until I knew (if I'd won) and then I tried to soak it up as best I could. "To win a Melbourne Cup at only 21, I'm just so delighted and hopefully the best is yet to come from me." Cummings added: "Well what a great day it's been. I do make a habit of winning this race and someone once told me it's a good habit to get into. "It's also great to see the Aussies succeed." Winning owner Dato Tan Chin Nam was enjoying his fourth success in the race following the victories of Think Big, a back-to-back winner in 1974 and 1975, and Saintly in 1996. He said: "I'm very happy that the horse won. He put up a gutsy run and I thought he had lost for moment. "It was my fourth win and now I'm happy not to win any more but if it happens again, I will not complain!" Dermot Weld's Profound Beauty finished fifth under Glen Boss. The rider said: "I had the perfect run. I tracked the winner the whole race and I had his measure for a long way before we straightened up. "When I asked her to extend, she really felt the ground, especially over the last furlong, and she didn't want to stretch out. "I've got no doubts she will be back next year and very hard to beat." Mad Rush claimed seventh place for Cumani and jockey Damien Oliver. "He didn't quite stay the trip today," said Oliver. "He moved into the race nicely on the turn but when Bauer made his run, he kept going and my bloke sort of came to the end of his run at about the 200-metre mark." French runner Varevees was 14th while Septimus eventually faded into 18th of the 22 runners. Murtagh said: "He might not be the right horse for the race really. "Everyone says you need a bit of speed over here and he got into a nice position after going down the straight. "We were going a nice, even trip all the way but when we turned into the straight, they went by us as if we were stopped." Alessandro Volta was 20th while Honolulu was last of the 21 finishers with Gallopin pulled up in the straight.
