Premier English trainer Luca Cumani is looking towards the time-honoured 150^th Melbourne Cup this spring for five-year-old Drunken Sailor.

Drunken Sailor finished a gallant second to Overturn after an unlucky run in the Northumberland Plate (3,236m) at Newcastle last start, prompting Cumani to consider an international campaign for the Samanda Racing-owned runner with the $6 million Melbourne Cup on November 2 the primary target.

Run over 3,200m the Melbourne Cup field always features a collection of the world’s premier stayers, with Cumani saying Drunken Sailor displays the ideal traits of a Melbourne Cup runner having shown versatility and continued improvement over his career.

Cumani has prepared two Melbourne Cup second placegetters with Purple Moon (2007) and Bauer (2008) and believes Drunken Sailor has what it takes to match or even surpass this result in the 2010 Melbourne Cup.

To gain an entry into the 2010 Melbourne Cup field Drunken Sailor still must meet the Cup criteria of having won a race with a specified prizemoney over a distance of 2,300m or more.

Next weekend’s John Smith’s Silver Cup at York is now a possibility for Drunken Sailor and his performance there will determine whether Cumani continues on with a Melbourne Cup preparation.

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