3 minute read
Godolphin trainer James Cummings says one more ‘squeeze of the orange’ could be enough to get that elusive Group One win out of crack sprinter Osborne Bulls in Saturday’s $700,000 Doomben Ten Thousand.
No horse deserves an elite win more than Osborne Bulls after the frustrating sequence of placings by the 5YO in some of Australia’s top sprints over the last 12 months.
Only out of a place once in his 18 career starts that includes nine wins, Osborne Buils has started in five G1 races for four second placings and a fifth.
Since February he has finished second in successive starts in the G1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) and G1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington and the G1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) and G1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.
Those races were won by In Her Time (Lightning), Sunlight (Newmarket), Santa Ana Lane (TJ Smith) and Pierata (All-Aged).
Those races attracted the cream of Australia’s sprinting talent but with the exception of Galaxy wniner Nature Strip, Osborne Bulla will be facing lesser opposition at Doomben where he has been favoured by the barrier draw.
With Kerrin McEvoy replacing the resting Hugh Bowman Osborne Bulls will jump from gate four while the brilliant Nature Strip seems certain to use his early pace to overcome his wide draw in gate 11 in the field of 13.
Cummings said Osborne Bulls is in the right form to land his first G1 win on Saturday despite his testing autumn campaign.
“He’ shown there’s still enough juice left in the orange to be tackling another Group One,” Cummings said.
“On form it looks to be the most winnable of the four he’s run in this campaign.
“What hurts is that he’s beaten all the horses who have beaten him in other races. He’s attacked the line but he’s just come up one placing short.”
Cummings will play his usual strong hand at the Doomben and Scone meetings on Friday and Saturday with an impressive list of runners.
He has elected to start Scone dual acceptor Resin in the $140,000 Luskin Star Stakes (1300m) where the mare will join stablemates Trekking and Intuition, leaving stablemates Savatiano and Organza to run in the $180,000 Dark Jewel Classic (1400m).
Here are his thoughts on the Godolphin runners at Doomben on Saturday and the two-day Scone carnival on Friday and Saturday.
SCONE FRIDAY
Duca Valentinois (Race 7): “He’s training beautifully ahead of this assignment. He’s only second-up going to the mile but he’s been great around the stable and I’m happy that he’s ready to run a race at this trip so soon in his preparation. He’s shown that this is his time of the year.”
DOOMBEN SATURDAY
Multaja (Race 4): “She finished off beautifully in the Hawkesbury Crown and looks well-placed back at set weights against her own age. She’s two-from-four this prep, with a first and second in Black Type races.”
SCONE SATURDAY
Devachan (Race 3): “Her second-up win was strong and she can improve again.”
Gongs (Race 5): “She has returned well and I expect her to go well first-up after a strong preliminary trial.”
Intuition (Race 6): “There’s so much to like about him. He comes to this off a career-best performance and I’m expecting him to hold his very good form and continue building up the sort of record that is making people sit up and take notice.”
Trekking (Race 6): “Even though he’s stepping up to 1300m for the first time he’s continued to train well since winning and should enjoy being on top of the ground again. He’s racing very well, training well and we’re looking forward to him taking on a good field here.”
Resin (RACE 6): “She’s had a solid campaign without winning, paying the price for winning the Nivison Stakes in the spring. She carries strong form out of the Sapphire Stakes.”
Savatiano (Race 7): “Savatiano is ticking over beautifully since competing in a fast-run Sapphire Stakes. A couple of good performances have come out of that race already, horses like Irithea and Spright. She brings excellent form to a race like this.”
Organza (Race7): “She’s been training well and expect her to attack the line first up.”
Viridine (Race 8): “He’ll run well because he’s still on fresh legs after being raced sparingly during the autumn. On top of that, he arrives here in excellent form with a fourth in the Hall Mark.”