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The Bart Cummings is a Group 3 race held at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse in early October over the Spring Racing Carnival.

The Bart Cummings is run under handicap conditions and is open to horses of all ages and sexes. Contested over 2500m, The Bart Cummings provides a valuable opportunity for local stayers to test their mettle over distances greater than 2400m. Because the race is a key lead-up to the Melbourne Cup, it is now named in honour of the twelve-time Melbourne Cup winning trainer, Bart Cummings.

The Bart Cummings winner is exempt from ballot for the Group 1 $6 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) held over the two miles back at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November and the double was last completed by Almandin (2016).

The Bart Cummings is held on Turnbull Stakes Day that is headlined by the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m), Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m), the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m), the Group 2 Blazer Stakes (1400m).

The Bart Cummings ran on Saturday October 7, 2017.

The Bart Cummings 2017
Date:	Saturday October 7, 2017
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	2500m
Race Type:	Quality Handicap
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$300,000

2017 The Bart Cummings Results

• 1st: #4 Amelie’s Star
• 2nd: #13 Granddukeoftuscany
• 3rd: #10 Kellstorm

See below for the official The Bart Cummings 2017 Results & Finishing Order, the race won by the Darren Weir-trained mare Amelie’s Star who has earned a Melbourne Cup qualification after beating home the $91 pacesetter Granddukeoftuscany (2nd) and fellow roughie Kellstorm ($51) also prepared by Weir. The $2.20 race favourite Almandin, winner of The Bart Cummings – Melbourne Cup double last year, laboured under the 60kg top weight and finished fourth.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Wgt.	SP
1	4	AMELIE’S STAR	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	–	2	54.5kg	$4.60
2	13	GRANDDUKEOFTUSCANY (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Michael Dee	2L	1	54kg	$91
3	10	KELLSTORM (IRE)	Darren Weir	Ben Allen (a)	2.1L	5	54kg	$51
4	1	ALMANDIN (GER)	Robert Hickmott	Damien Oliver	3.35L	9	60kg	$2.20F
5	3	HARLEM (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	3.85L	10	56.5kg	$4.40
6	11	YOGI (NZ)	Darren Weir	Dean Yendall	4.85L	6	54kg	$20
6	2	TALLY	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	4.85L	3	57.5kg	$11
8	8	VENGEUR MASQUE (IRE)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	4.95L	7	54kg	$26
9	7	PENTATHLON (NZ)	John Wheeler	Jye McNeil	7.95L	4	54kg	$101
10	6	KINEMA (IRE)	Chris Waller	Craig Newitt	42.95L	8	54kg	$71
–	5	BROADSIDE (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Stephen Baster	–	0	–	–
–	12	SUPER HAZE (IRE)	Tony McEvoy	Luke Currie	–	0	–	–
–	9	CROCODILE ROCK (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Ben Melham	–	0	–	–

2017 The Bart Cummings Odds

The season’s latest The Bart Cummings 2017 racing odds and Flemington betting market links to Ladbrokes.com.au on the potential Melbourne Cup horses will be provided below the week of the race.

2017 The Bart Cummings Field

The Bart Cummings field tends to attract fairly top quality stayers. Because it is one of the earliest staying events in the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, some genuine Melbourne Cup contenders enter The Bart Cummings field. Other horses who are targeting later major staying events will seek entry into The Bart Cummings field in order to get as much fitness as possible over longer distances.

Good lead-up races into The Bart Cummings field include the Listed JRA Trophy (2500m) in mid-September and Caulfield’s Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m), the latter producing the 2017 winner Amelie’s Star (4th).

The 2017 The Bart Cummings field & barriers will be released on the Wednesday leading-up to race day and published in full below.

The Bart Cummings 2017 Final Field attracted 13 stayers led by the defending champion and last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Almandin giving the weight away with 60kg.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x665111x21	ALMANDIN (GER)	Robert Hickmott	Damien Oliver	12	60kg	112
2	x37710x247	TALLY	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	6	57.5kg	105
3	384x386x51	HARLEM (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	13	56.5kg	103
4	x4214x8394	AMELIE’S STAR	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	5	54.5kg	103
5	65123×8135	BROADSIDE (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Stephen Baster	1	54kg	98
6	1x75459x70	KINEMA (IRE)	Chris Waller	Craig Newitt	11	54kg	97
7	9x97860x04	PENTATHLON (NZ)	John Wheeler	Jye McNeil	7	54kg	93
8	482x542x99	VENGEUR MASQUE (IRE)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	10	54kg	90
9	1x1x21x322	CROCODILE ROCK (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Ben Melham	4	54kg	87
10	9×17351116	KELLSTORM (IRE)	Darren Weir	Ben Allen (a)	8	54kg	86
11	168×211314	YOGI (NZ)	Darren Weir	Dean Yendall	9	54kg	84
12	4051421427	SUPER HAZE (IRE)	Tony McEvoy	Luke Currie	3	54kg	82
13	x9x5644276	GRANDDUKEOFTUSCANY (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Michael Dee	2	54kg	74

2017 The Bart Cummings Nominations

Trainers will often include a number of their better performing stayers in The Bart Cummings nominations because there are few other choices at that distance in Melbourne that weekend. Inclusion in the Bart Cummings nominations is a strong indication that a horse has its sights set on major staying events later in October, and early entries close the Monday of race week.

The 2017 The Bart Cummings Nominations attracted 24 stayers led by reigning champion Almandin who went on to win last year’s Melbourne Cup.

The Bart Cummings History

The Bart Cummings was previously known as the Banjo Paterson. That name has since been reserved for a separate series of racing. The Bart Cummings was named as such because the man himself often used the race as a platform for developing his stayers ahead of feature events such as the Melbourne Cup.

The Bart Cummings gained its current name in 2004, when the VRC made the decision to honour the Australian Racing Hall of Fame inaugural inductee. In response to the accolade, Mr Cummings famously said “I will be doing my very best to try to prepare the winner of it”.

Previously a listed event, the Bart Cummings was granted Group 3 status prior to the 2014 edition. In 2012 and 2009, the race was run over 2520m.

Light Vision won this race two years running in 2008 and 2009. Mourayan took top honours in 2011, while Araldo seized first place in 2013. More recently Almandin (2016) completed The Bart Cummings – Melbourne Cup double for prolific owner Lloyd Williams. Th Bart Cummings results since 2006 are provided below.

Bart Cummings Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2018 The Bart Cummings	1st	TBD	TBD
	2nd	TBD
	3rd	TBD
2017 The Bart Cummings	1st	Amelie’s Star	2 minutes 37.69 seconds
	2nd	Granddukeoftuscany
	3rd	Kellstorm
2016 The Bart Cummings	1st	Almandin	2 minutes 37.47 seconds
	2nd	Zanteca
	3rd	Excess Knowledge
2015 The Bart Cummings	1st	Let’s Make Adeal	2 minutes 35.6 seconds
	2nd	Our Ivanhowe
	3rd	Hawkspur
2014 The Bart Cummings	1st	Who Shot Thebarman	2 minutes 39.62 seconds
	2nd	Marksmanship
	3rd	Anudjawun
2013 The Bart Cummings	1st	Araldo	2 minutes 38.23 seconds
	2nd	Sea Moon
	3rd	Gotta Take Care
2012 The Bart Cummings	1st	Tanby	2 minutes 36.69 seconds
	2nd	Maluckyday
	3rd	Dame Claire
2011 The Bart Cummings	1st	Mourayan	2 minutes 40.78 seconds
	2nd	Niwot
	3rd	Showcause
2010 The Bart Cummings	1st	Harris Tweed	2 minutes 40.32 seconds
	2nd	Exceptionally
	3rd	Above Average
2009 The Bart Cummings	1st	Light Vision	2 minutes 38.76 seconds
	2nd	Miss Darcey
	3rd	Zacroona
2008 The Bart Cummings	1st	Light Vision	2 minutes 41.34 seconds
	2nd	Baughurst
	3rd	Zavite
2007 The Bart Cummings	1st	Dolphin Jo	2 minutes 39.06 seconds
	2nd	The Fuzz
	3rd	Light Vision
2006 The Bart Cummings	1st	Irazu	2 minutes 38.22 seconds
	2nd	Aznavour
	3rd	Bay Story