Are connections really serious about a Melbourne Cup bid by jumps star Black And Bent? He won in strong fashion at Warrnambool on Sunday but it's stretching the elastic to suggest he can win our greatest 3200m race at Grp 1 level against many of the world's best flat stayers. In the Sydney Morning Herald, veteran turf scribbler Max Presnellsays: 'Black And Bent scored attractively in a $100,000 hurdle at Warrnambool yesterday, with the most endearing aspect being his scope for improvement. Only

Are connections really serious about a Melbourne Cup bid by jumps star Black And Bent? He won in strong fashion at Warrnambool on Sunday but it's stretching the elastic to suggest he can win our greatest 3200m race at Grp 1 level against many of the world's best flat stayers. In the Sydney Morning Herald, veteran turf scribbler Max Presnellsays: 'Black And Bent scored attractively in a $100,000 hurdle at Warrnambool yesterday, with the most endearing aspect being his scope for improvement. Only downing easybeats, it was hardly worth the acclaim of best ever and world-beater. That can come but only against better opposition. The Melbourne Cup? As Morgan Freeman, the great actor, said: ''Everyone should have a dream.'

The short term goal for BAB is the Grand National Hurdle at Sandown on August 14 and long-term is the $1.7 million Nakayama Daishogai steeplechase on Christmas Eve, Japan's winter version of its spring Nakayama Grand Jump, raced in March.

Final word? Does trainer Robert Smerdon have the same belief in a Melbourne Cup run as BAB's owners do? I very much doubt it.