KEY POINTS:
You can perhaps see why Irish horseman Aidan O'Brien says he can't understand what his wife sees in him.
He reckons he's dead boring.
A day at the beach would bore him to tears and for $1000 he couldn't tell you a football score.
Aidan O'Brien has always
done things differently to most.
The man some say is the world's best horse trainer stayed true to form in Melbourne yesterday when he chose church over the international media conference at Sandown.
No confirmation that while the other Europeans were handing up their thoughts to journalists over bacon, eggs and garlic mushrooms, O'Brien was on his knees praying for the rain he says he must have for the A$5.5 million Melbourne Cup favourite, Septimus.
Must have so badly, the Irish stable says, that they won't run Septimus if the ground is too unsuitably firm.
If you believe that, you'll believe Santa will personally deliver your presents at the end of next month.
But it's a tactic O'Brien and his powerful backers hope will convince the Victoria Racing Club to water Flemington sufficiently to suit Septimus.
O'Brien was represented by Tom Magnier, son of the Ballydoyle patriarch and one of Ireland's most powerful figures, John Magnier.
They talk of "safe ground".
Every international trainer who has come to Melbourne in the past decade has used the same term.
By safe they mean safe for the horse's leg. The jar out of the track.
Very few European horses appreciate very firm conditions.
Septimus has a very high front leg action and as a result hits the ground extremely hard.
You can see why a hard track would quickly shorten up his stride.
Magnier was asked point blank to declare if the stable would truly pull Septimus out of the Cup if the track was firm like Saturday's footing for Derby Day.
"Well, that'll be Aidan's call, but I can tell you we want some yield.
"We won't risk this horse. We want all three of our horses to come out of the race in good shape."
The safest bet all week will be that Septimus will be in the gates when they let the field loose at Flemington tomorrow. Five and a half million dollars can do that sort of thing.
Rain has been forecast for the past three days in Melbourne, but the drought-stricken area has remained dry, which means the VRC will look at irrigating.
Glen Boss, at the conference as rider for another Irish raider, the Dermot Weld-trained Profound Beauty, said the Flemington track on Saturday became very firm for the second half of the programme.
"It was nice for the first few races, but after about Race 6 it was, I wouldn't say hard, but very firm.
"The strong wind didn't help."
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Aidan O'Brien might have earned his reputation as the best horse trainer in the world.
But that title is generated by the intensity of O'Brien's approach to each horse.
By his almost fanatical dedication to detail, regardless of how small.
But there is little doubt Dermot Weld and Luca Cumani are the world's shrewdest trainers.
Weld used his Irish jockey Mick Kinane when he won the Cup a decade and a half ago, but quickly switched to local Australian riders afterwards.
He had Damien Oliver in the saddle when Media Puzzle won the Cup a couple of years ago.
Cumani has never brought a Northern Hemisphere jockey with him and will have Oliver on the back of Mad Rush tomorrow.
Glen Boss will do the job on Profound Beauty for Dermot Weld.
Melbourne Cup history is littered with examples of European jockeys affecting the chances of visiting horses simply because they were not used to the style of riding in this part of the world.
Northern Hemisphere jockeys have been shocked by the tightness of the packed 24-horse field going into the first bend out of the home straight in their first Melbourne Cup experience.
Frankie Dettori, great horseman that he is, has yet to shine in five or six Melbourne Cup attempts.
So, how will the Aidan O'Brien's trio of Septimus, Honolulu and Alessandro Volta get on with two jockeys who have never seen an Australian race live and one who had his first taste of Flemington with one ride on Saturday?
Johnny Murtagh had a look when he finished second last on Tears I Cry in the final event.
Colm O'Donoghue, who rides Honolulu and Alessandro Volta's jockey Wayne Lordan have not only not seen Flemington, they have not previously sat on the backs of their respective mounts.
That has the potential to be very dangerous.
Tom Magnier was asked about it at yesterday's international media conference.
Of O'Donoghue and Lordan he said: "They are two extremely talented riders - if they weren't, Aidan wouldn't have them down here."
O'Brien is horse racing's most unconventional thinker.
We'll see shortly after 3.00pm tomorrow whether O'Brien's right or whether what has become the conventional thinking for visiting trainers to use local jockeys is the way to go.
It adds a fascinating angle to an already drama-packed Cup.
