They flocked in their tens of thousands to Flemington in the hope of seeing a coronation. What they got was a horse race. So You Think had been backed as if defeat in the Melbourne Cup was out of the question. In the previous 10 days this powerfully built four-year-old had won two Grade Ones at Flemington, the Cox Plate and the Mackinnon Stakes. Those races were both over 10 furlongs but the fact that his trainer, Bart Cummings, had not expressed any great doubts over the horse’s ability to stay the extra six furlongs – “that’s why I bought him” Cummings said before the race - meant that most of the 120,000 on the track backed the horse to become a 13th Cup winner for Cummings on just his 12th career start. But it was not to be. What was the reason behind the defeat?
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