5 Aug 2009

Cummings has 11 in line for Melbourne Cup

6:43 am on 5 August 2009

Last year's Melbourne Cup winner Viewed spearheads an 11-strong team for trainer Bart Cummings who is aiming to win Australia's most famous race for the 13th time in November.

Cummings's other headline entries are AJC Australian Derby winner Roman Emperor, AJC Australian Oaks runner-up Think Money, VRC St Leger runner-up Precedence and 2007 Queensland Derby winner Empires Choice.

230 horses have entered for the Melbourne Cup and 227 for the Caulfield Cup, down significantly on last year's entries of nearly 300 for each race.

Key local entries include 2007 Melbourne Cup winner Efficient and Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly, Efficient's stablemate and last year's Melbourne Cup placegetter C'est La Guerre, and the dual Derby winner Rebel Raider.

Overall, 43 international horses have been entered for the spring racing carnival's three major races compared to 66 last year.

Prominent New Zealand stayers among the early nominations include the AJC Derby winner Nom du Jeu, last season's leading filly Daffodil and Six O'clock News.