Melbourne heartbreak for Cumani
The Newmarket handler came within half a length of victory in the two-mile feature with Purple Moon last year and he was in with a chance of scoring a first British-trained win as Bauer flew home in the final furlong.
However, the game five-year-old just could not get his head in front of Viewed, who was presenting legendary trainer Bart Cummings with his 12th Melbourne Cup success and 250th Group One overall.
Bauer officially lost out by a nose – the narrowest margin in Cup history - with C’est La Guerre a further two lengths away in third.
Cumani said: “He’s run a great race and we’re very pleased. We are getting closer and although it is frustrating to be beaten so narrowly, on the other hand he has run a great race.
“He had a good run home and we are very proud of him.
“He could come back next year but we will see as it is a long way off. We will keep trying to win this race though.”
Aidan O’Brien’s Irish St Leger hero Septimus was among the leading contenders for the Group One race and he was smartly away under Johnny Murtagh.
He was at the head of affairs early on before stablemates Alessandro Volta and Honolulu came through to take over pacemaking duties.
The trio set a strong gallop and pulled clear at one point, with Septimus leading into the Flemington straight.
However, Blake Shinn had made stealthy progress aboard Viewed and produced his mount over two furlongs out to put daylight between himself and the field before repelling the late thrust of Bauer.
“You always think positive. You do your best. If you’ve got the horse with the right material, I’m never a pessimist. I don’t believe in it,” said Cummings, whose most recent victory in the race came in 1999 with Rogan Josh.
Of the other European raiders, Dermot Weld’s Profound Beauty fared best in finishing fifth under Glen Boss.
The rider said: “I had the perfect run. I tracked the winner the whole race and I had his measure for a long way before we straightened up.
“When I asked her to extend, she really felt the ground, especially over the last furlong, and she didn’t want to stretch out.
“I’ve got no doubts she will be back next year and very hard to beat.”
Cumani also sent out Mad Rush to finish seventh under Damien Oliver.
French runner Varevees was 14th while Septimus eventually faded into 18th with Alessandro Volta 20th and Honolulu last of the 21 finishers.
The Ballydoyle team was later called into the stewards’ room to give evidence over jockey Wayne Lordan’s ride on Alessandro Volta, the only one of the three not to be found by vets to have pulled up lame.
Although no sanctions were imposed, O’Brien admitted the performance of his team had left him with plenty to consider ahead of any future Melbourne trips.
“They didn’t run within stones of what they were,” he said.
“The reason – if we did the wrong thing in quarantine, whether we travelled them wrong, whether we should have run them when they were over.
“There’s a lot of things. There’s a lot we have to learn. That’s putting it mildly.”
