KEY POINTS:
There was only the one concession to age.
Bart Cummings might have slowed when he turned 80 this year, but he rose to another level at the A$5.5 million ($6.2 million) Melbourne Cup press conference yesterday.
Someone put a bottle of spring water in front of him as
he answered a barrage of questions in hot conditions. Despite a massive turn of the wrist the screwtop stayed in place.
With the agility of a test slips cricketer he lobbed the bottle to the Emirates air hostess standing nearby to open.
Then it was back to the one-liners that made him as famous as the, now, 12 Melbourne Cup winners he's produced.
The wrist may not work quite the same, but Cummings' ability to produce a top stayer remains unchanged as longshot Viewed proved at Flemington yesterday.
On the stage they were a brace pair, Cummings and his owner and lifelong friend Dato Tan Chin Nam.
Cummings is happy to reveal his age, Dato Tan less revealing.
"OBE," he said.
Pushed he added: "over bloody eighty."
These two stood side by side as warriors through many battles. And not just Melbourne Cups - Dato Tan owned Saintly, one of the great Melbourne Cup winners.
It's an open secret Dato Tan gave Cummings a leg-up when he owed the banks A$20 million after being left with a gigantic bill by yearling investors who walked away after the fall of the hammer.
To his everlasting credit, Cummings eventually climbed back out, but probably wouldn't have without Dato Tan riding shotgun for him. How did you meet him Bart?
"He was drinking in my local bar in Adelaide - that was a long time ago - and we were playing two-up."
When Dato Tan did the impossible and threw seven winners in the illegal game, Cummings knew he was on to something.
Dato Tan made millions as a Malaysian businessman, heavily involved in construction and banking.
He is also a world recognised chess master - hence the white and black checks on his racing colours.
Dato said he was a loyal owner, confirmed by his trainer.
"Better the devil you know than the angel you don't know," said the Malaysian.
This was a dream result. It was 50 years to the day when Bart Cummings produced his first Melbourne Cup runner, Asian Court, who finished 12th in 1958.
Viewed and Moatize yesterday were his 77th and 78th Cup runners.
Did you ever think you wouldn't get to winner No 12?
"No. Pessimism. I don't believe in it."
If Cummings is turned away at the Pearly Gates, he'll talk his way back in.
Tears welled when he spoke of the admiration he had for his father as a wonderful horseman who taught him everything.
No sign of embarrassment as he wiped them away.
"I get a lot of hayfever, you know."
