English trainer Luca Cumani's Melbourne Cup hopes may rest with recent stable acquisition Basaltico with 2008 runner-up Bauer ruled out by injury.Cumani also trained Purple Moon to run second in the 2007 Melbourne Cup and was hoping it would be third time lucky.Writing on the stable website, Francesca Cumani said Basaltico would start in a Group Three race at Goodwood on August 1 which would determine whether he took his place in the Ebor on August 18."(Bauer's injury) rather dashes our hopes of

English trainer Luca Cumani's Melbourne Cup hopes may rest with recent stable acquisition Basaltico with 2008 runner-up Bauer ruled out by injury.

Cumani also trained Purple Moon to run second in the 2007 Melbourne Cup and was hoping it would be third time lucky.

Writing on the stable website, Francesca Cumani said Basaltico would start in a Group Three race at Goodwood on August 1 which would determine whether he took his place in the Ebor on August 18.

"(Bauer's injury) rather dashes our hopes of finally winning the Melbourne Cup this year," Cumani said.

"Although our recent acquisition Basaltico will get the chance to step up to the plate in the Group Three Glorious Stakes and put his credentials on the line in a race Purple Moon also took in before his gallant second at Flemington."

"If Basaltico runs well at Goodwood, he could also go to York for the Ebor as Purple Moon did, but we are still learning about him and we won't really know more until after Goodwood."

Basaltico won two races over 2400 metres in Italy last year and finished third over the 3200 metres of the Melbourne Cup in Dubai in February.

Dermot Weld, the only European to train a Melbourne Cup winner so far, has Profound Beauty on target for another tilt at the race.

The mare ran a creditable fifth last year and has won her two starts since, taking out the Group Three Curragh Cup before victory in a Listed race at Leopardstown last week.

Weld told the Racing Post the mare would have two more starts before travelling to Australia.

"She's a self-contained individual, very relaxed and very cool and she might have an easy ten days or so and then we'll look at possibly the Yorkshire Oaks," Weld said.

"The Irish St Leger would be an obvious target for her and she'll probably only have another two more runs before her long-term target, the Melbourne Cup."

The Weld-trained Vintage Crop won the 1993 Curragh Cup and the Irish St Leger on his way to an historic Melbourne Cup win that year.

Nominations for this year's Cup close on August 4.