Cummings hoping the handicapper is generous and Precedence can be lucky 13th winner

BART Cummings turns 86 next month but he’s still training big-race winners and could have Precedence in the Melbourne Cup.  

Bart Cummings is hoping Precedence earns a start as he chases a 13th Melbourne Cup win,

FOR Bart Cummings and Precedence, age is only a number.

The maestro turns 86 next month but he’s still training big-race winners, albeit in a training partnership with his grandson James Cummings these days.

Precedence, a spritely eight-year-old, gave them their first Melbourne feature together when he zoomed away with won the Moonee Valley Gold Cup on Saturday.

And now the rallying call is to give Bart his 88th Melbourne Cup runner, and James (pictured) his first, with Precedence.

It all rests with Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper Greg Carpenter and whether he issues Precedence a weight penalty for his Moonee Valley win.

Precedence has 52kg and is 45th in order of entry for the $6.2 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington tomorrow week.

Carpenter is due to announce Precedence’s penalty today and it is thought the stayer needs a 1.5kg re-handicap to make the Cup field.

Bart Cummings has had 87 Melbourne Cup runners since Asian Court ran 10th to Baystone in 1958.

Cummings has trained an incredible 12 winners of Australia’s greatest race – Light Fingers (1965), Galilee (1966), Red Handed (1967), Think Big (1974-75), Gold And Black (1977), Hyperno (1979), Kingston Rule (1990), Let’s Elope (1991), Saintly (1996), Rogan Josh (1999) and Viewed (2008).

Precedence is already a veteran of three Melbourne Cup campaigns, finishing eighth in 2010, 11th in 2011 and ninth last year.

"The concern from the handicapper’s point of view is that Precedence had 53kg and only ran ninth last year, but we would argue it is a bit different this year," James Cummings said.

"He was only having his third run in at Moonee Valley and has plenty of speed in his legs. He has a really fresh attitude and zest for finding the line as he showed in the Moonee Valley Cup."

No horse of Precedence’s age has won a Melbourne Cup since Catalogue in 1938 but Cummings maintains the stayer is racing as well as ever.

"Precedence doesn’t know how old he is," Cummings said. "He just looks better and better. We have got him fit without giving him an overly taxing preparation so this might be the key to him.

"Like Bart said to me (on Saturday), the penalty is out of our hands. All we can do is have our horse in a really good frame of mind and keep him ticking over.” and if it comes our way I’m sure Bart will be very happy to be there on Cup Day.

"I think a few diehard racing fans would be pretty happy about that, too."