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News.com.au
24-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
James Cummings prepares for move to train in Hong Kong with final Melbourne runners at Caulfield in the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes on Saturday
James Cummings is left only with a lifetime of Melbourne racing and training memories to cherish. The iconic Flemington stable, Carbine Lodge, has all but been emptied now, along with mantelpieces which proudly showcased Godolphin success under Cummings's watch. Only three horses remain in the yard, Kin, Inhibitions and Kallos, ahead of the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) on Saturday at Caulfield – his last runners in Melbourne. Cummings, in Sydney on Saturday to saddle two at Randwick, cannot pack into boxes what is going to be missed the most before a move to train in Hong Kong next year. Flemington, the racecourse and its people – most importantly the loyal Carbine Lodge team but also resident trainers and participants alike, past and present. 'I'll miss the team, a really amazing team that have been assembled and developed a great passion for the horses,' Cummings said. 'They see the horses leave, they're horses that they love … it bubbles a bit of emotion to the surface. 'Seeing that makes you appreciate that even more … missing the team will be the biggest thing. 'We've had really lovely pedigrees, outstanding horses come through the stable, but you know, the horses do come and go. 'The longevity of people that have been here to see the ebbs and flows of the stable … we cherish that … and so that makes it particularly difficult.' Cummings shared a moment with Reg Fleming on Wednesday night in Melbourne. Fleming, who served as foreman for Cups King Bart Cummings, has been a mainstay at Flemington. 'I've always been in his orbit in a way, whether it's growing up from afar in Sydney,' Cumming said. 'His relationship and devotion really to my grandfather and then being a colleague of his … Reg and a number of other staff have been around a long time.' Cummings has upheld a family tradition for top-class success in Melbourne, particularly Flemington. Cummings has saddled 13 of 52 Group 1 wins at Flemington including three Newmarket Handicaps, two Australian Cups, two VRC Oaks and the Victoria Derby before the successful Godolphin chapter. Cummings's father Anthony (Oaks and Derby) and older brother Edward (Australian Cup) boast top class Flemington honours. Bart's deeds remain peerless – 13 Australian Cups, 12 Melbourne Cups, 11 Mackinnon (Champions) Stakes, nine VRC Oaks and eight Newmarket Handicaps among others. 'It's been a very special place to our family,' Cummings said. 'To say it's been a privilege to train here is an understatement really, it truly has been a privilege and more. 'The trophies, that are not quite in the mantelpieces anymore as they've been boxed up, but it's more than just the trophies to show for those great results here. 'There are amazing pedigrees that have been updated and improved by those results, stallions at stud, stallions on the roster, broodmares at stud … and great memories.' Cummings has always held the Flemington mounting yard in the highest esteem. 'The theatre there and the drama and club feel,' Cummings said. 'To think back to those times (big race days), the place looks amazing and it feels like a very privileged place to be, in the thick of the action. 'I'd say that mounting yard encapsulates … everything about Flemington, doesn't it, everything's done well, and plenty of space, and it's a great cauldron, a great test for a horse, as much as it's a cauldron it's spacious. 'There's pressure and everyone's there and you know, the competition couldn't be much stronger … lucky to be a part of it.' Cox Plate success in 2022 with Anamoe at The Valley stamped Cummings's own legacy and avenged a contentious defeat the previous year, a benefit arguably in hindsight. Anamoe was second past the post by a hair margin in the 2021 but sustained interference from Irish raider and Cox Plate winner State Of Rest. Stewards dismissed the high-stakes protest after submissions from all parties. 'In a funny way, it probably opened up his entire four-year-old career because he had something to come back to prove and we got to see so much more of him as a result,' Cummings said. 'If you can remain upbeat and circumspect about those things that just go against you a little bit you give yourself the opportunity to make good and he got his chance for retribution. 'Everybody is better off as a consequence and he set himself up beautifully for the next phase of his career.' • Shinn tightens grips on jockeys' title at Sandown Cummings confirmed the personal and professional importance of a Melbourne spring major Cox Plate. 'I'd won a Slipper and Doncaster in Sydney, very important to get a major in Melbourne … you don't get too many opportunities at those sorts of races,' Cummings said. 'That was an amazing day (2022 Cox Plate) and an amazing race to look back on … it gave the entire team a huge uplift … imagine that day, the next day, next few weeks, people walking out in blue (Godolphin) jackets being congratulated for the feats of that champion horse. 'It's important to celebrate your wins … as much as you resist feeling the difficult days too much, it's inevitable you will still feel the disappointments and those feelings are bitter feelings. 'If you can, I think, without getting carried away, balance that out with celebrating big days. I think that's really proved to be a really good recipe for team culture and your longevity at that level.' Cummings has to keep winning races next year in Hong Kong, if nothing else but to appease his and wife Monica's four children under 10. 'They think I've got hundreds of trophies,' Cummings laughed. 'That's their view of (racing) seeing the trophies come home, but they're probably a bit young, the oldest is 10, so a bit on the younger side to be fully immersed in the ins and outs of the industry. 'Show and tell has been good for the five year old. She's enjoyed taking the odd trophy in. 'There's a few trophies stashed away in drawers as well as on display (at home) … but they'll have to be packed away. I can't take them all.'
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
‘Aim up against the boys': Queensland Oaks-bound filly Churchill's Choice to excite in Queensland Guineas
Young Group 1 winning trainer Nathan Doyle has no qualms about taking on the boys with his exciting young filly Churchill's Choice in Saturday's Queensland Guineas. Newcastle trainer Doyle, who soared into the Group 1 club when sprint weapon Private Harry won The Galaxy, feels Churchill's Choice could arguably be coming to the Sunshine State unbeaten. The filly has won three from four with her only defeat when she resumed over 1400m in a Group 3 race at Randwick last start, finishing fourth and beaten a length after seeing little clear air. Churchill's Choice, which gets a two-kilo advantage on her male rivals, is a $5 chance in the Group 2 Guineas and Doyle points out she would have been shorter in Guineas betting had she arrived in Queensland with a picket fence of wins next to her name. She is already highly rated as a Group 1 Queensland Oaks chance – at $6 in betting – and can zoom into Oaks favouritism with an impressive display over 1600m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. 'I know she is in the Guineas against the boys, but I think she can aim up,' Doyle said. 'She was in restricted room the whole straight last start, she should have been in the finish and Kerrin McEvoy thought the same as me. 'The last few strides she really just dashed at them, she was just winding up. 'If she got a bit of room last start she could be going up to Queensland unbeaten and she would be a lot shorter in the (betting) market than she is. 'I really like the horse, she wants to be a racehorse and she attacks the line. 'She has got a bright future.' Doyle rates Churchill's Choice every bit as good as stablemate Harlem Queen, the filly which was Group 1 placed last spring and also ran fourth in the VRC Oaks behind rising superstar Treasurethe Moment. Harlem Queen didn't fire at Eagle Farm last Saturday, failing to flatter when finishing 11th in the Princess Stakes after starting the $2.90 favourite. But there was an excuse for the flop when it was discovered the filly had sustained a wound on her leg in the race. Harlem Queen will most likely press on in an Oaks campaign with her next start likely to be in The Roses later this month where she could tangle with Churchill's Choice. As for Churchill's Choice, Doyle says the filly is giving him every indication the 2200m of next month's Oaks won't pose a problem. 'She shows me she just wants to relax and doesn't over do it in her races and she gets into a nice rhythm,' Doyle said. 'I feel 2200(m) shouldn't be an issue. She is just so unassuming, when you take her to race day she just produces. 'In the Guineas on Saturday, she has a perfect gate (9) to give her a bit of room and let her balance up, I think she will be very competitive.'
