3 minute read
James Cummings will attempt the rare feat of a running double with siblings at Randwick when products of blueblood mare Memorial step out within 40 minutes of each other this Saturday.
Boom I Am Invincible filly Commemorative takes on the older mares in Race 5 with her Exceed And Excel half-brother Contemporary to go around in Race 6.
Commemorative will be making her first racetrack appearance since a jaw-dropping debut win at Canterbury in June, which saw her rated one of the most exciting three-year-old fillies heading into the Spring Carnival.
The three-year-old gets into Saturday's 1200-metre benchmark 78 event with just 52kg and her performance will determine where she is directed next.
"If she can make the quantum leap this weekend, it will bode very well for her prospects of ducking down to Melbourne for the opportunity to tackle a Stakes race at Flemington," Cummings said.
"We'll make up our mind which race that might be after we get through this weekend, if she's good enough."
Commemorative is an $11 chance in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) and is second favourite behind Arctic Glamour for the $1 million Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m).
She wouldn't be the first member of the family to win a Thousand Guineas if she does take out that event at Caulfield on November 18 with Memorial out of the Encosta de Lago mare Mnemosyne, who won the Guineas in 2005.
Commemorative is the third foal from Memorial, a year younger than Contemporary, who also resumes from a spell in the 1100m BM78.
Contemporary won one race and finished third on four occasions in a six-start campaign earlier this year, taking his record to two wins from 12 starts, and Cummings keen to see what he can do first-up.
"He was a good winner of a Scone Class 1 during the Scone Cup Carnival with a big weight on his back," he said.
"We put him away and hopefully there's a better prep ahead of him this time.
"That will be good for when the better horses migrate down to Melbourne for the carnival."
Memorial's first foal Shrine, a five-year-old daughter of Shamardal was retired after two winless starts, while she also has a two-year-old filly by Blue Point called Photograph and a yearling colt by Lonhro.
