Racing: Triple shot to extend Cup lead

Bart Cummings' Caulfield Cup tally stands at six, half as many as his Melbourne Cup triumphs but still more than anyone else's.

Today, the master trainer has a triple shot at extending his lead.

Cummings announced a change of plans to put AJC Australian Derby winner Roman Emperor in the race, along with 2008 Melbourne Cup winner Viewed and Toorak Handicap winner Allez Wonder.

Last week, Cummings made the late decision to let Allez Wonder take her place in the Toorak, or perhaps that was the intention all along.

Michelle Payne etched her name in history as the first woman to ride a group one winner for Cummings, who has his pick of the country's top riders.

Asked why he chose Payne, Cummings came up with a line only an 81-year-old could get away with: "She's a pretty little thing and she rides pretty well."

Politically correct? No.

Accurate? Pretty much.

Payne is the youngest of 10 children, eight of whom have become jockeys. At 24, she sits pretty in the saddle with the assurance of someone who has been riding all their life.

She will once again be aboard Allez Wonder, the lightweight of the Cup with just 50kg.

Not quite as pretty as Payne are Cummings' other two riders: Brad Rawiller (Viewed) and Hugh Bowman (Roman Emperor), but both are heavyweights literally and figuratively.

While Cummings' six Caulfield Cups set him apart, jockey Damien Oliver has the chance to equal the race's most prolific rider, Scobie Breasley, as he attempts No 5 on European Cima De Triomphe. Oliver's last Cup win was a decade ago on Sky Heights. Many believe the time is right again, with punters coming for Cima De Triomphe and another European, Kirklees from the Godolphin stable.

Daffodil is considered the best of the transtasman chances and the AJC Australian Oaks winner will be ridden by Chris Munce, who is making his first visit to Melbourne for three years.

It is not a race for the faint-hearted.

It's not always a pretty race to watch but you need to be pretty good to win.

- AAP