Bart Cummings has followed up his 2008 Melbourne Cup win with viewed to take another major Group 1 victory, his 252nd, taking the AJC Australia Deryby with Roman Emperor with Jim Cassidy on board and breaks a 10 year Group 1 Sydney drought for Bart.
Roman Emperor started from the wide gate of 16 and was 3 wide down the straight for the first time before settling in on pace and holding off the late challengers in Harris Tweed and Predetory Pricer who outside of the winner was the run of the race coming from well back and held up for a clear run at the 200m mark.
Cummings indicated that Roman Emperor would head to the paddock for a spell before plotting a run in the 2009 Melbourne Cup. The last horse to win the AJC Derby and Melbourne Cup was Hall Mark in 1993.
On a betting note, the on course market closed at 121%! Never feel sorry for a bookmaker at those percentages!
