Can Luca Cumani win the Melbourne Cup this year? The great UK trainer is having another go and Drunken Sailor has emerged as his top Cup hope after winning the Listed March Stakes at Goodwood on Saturday. Champion jockey Kieren Fallon drove DS, the 5/4 fav, to a last-stride victory in the 2800m race. Cumani's 2008 Melbourne Cup runner-up Bauer was withdrawn from the race to avoid the soft ground. Luca's wife Sarah says: ;Drunken Sailor ticks all the boxes for Melbourne...He handles firm ground,

Can Luca Cumani win the Melbourne Cup this year? The great UK trainer is having another go and Drunken Sailor has emerged as his top Cup hope after winning the Listed March Stakes at Goodwood on Saturday. Champion jockey Kieren Fallon drove DS, the 5/4 fav, to a last-stride victory in the 2800m race. Cumani's 2008 Melbourne Cup runner-up Bauer was withdrawn from the race to avoid the soft ground. Luca's wife Sarah says: ;Drunken Sailor ticks all the boxes for Melbourne...He handles firm ground, he stays, he has a good turn of foot, so all we need is a good draw and trip over because it's a long way to go.'

Luca Cumani could have 3 runners in the Melbourne Cup. He indicated last week that Manighar, owned by Terry Henderson and Simon O'Donnell's OTI Racing, is a likely visitor to Melbourne this spring. He finished 2nd to another Cup candidate Americain (owned by Australian Gerry Ryan) in a 3000-metre group 2 race in France. OTI Racing also owns 2008 Melbourne Cup runner-up Bauer, who is yet to return to racing in England after a long period off with injury. He is likely to resume next week at Salisbury and will come to Melbourne if he performs well.

Aussie sprinter Scenic Blast could finish only 5th to Enriched in the Del Mar Mile on Saturday. Front-running Enriched proved unbeatable in the $190,000 hdcp, recording the first stakes win of his 21-race career. Enriched ran a mile in 1:34.83, finishing the final quarter-mile in 22.51 seconds. Meteore, a 7-1 shot, was third for the first half-mile and finished second, a neck in front of Bruce's Dream, who was followed by Blue Chagall, Scenic Blast, and Moudez in the field of six. Scenic Blast, sent out at 3/1, raced 3rd and 4th on the rails to the turn, was produced to challenge on straightening but found little under pressure. The winner was allowed to get away with cheap sectionals to the turn.