Godolphin breaking records down under

Sport360 staff 21:20 31/07/2018
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  • Godolphin's Australian based trainer James Cummings

    From any viewpoint, Godolphin’s 2017-18 Australian season, provided outstanding results.

    A record-equalling 233 victories, five G1 wins, 23 Stakes successes and the best winning strike rate of any major Australian stable are the stand-out numbers for the racing year that ends on 31 July.

    Among the major winners were Impending, who collected his second G1 success and a three-year-old colt and filly who are arguably the best of their age were revealed in Kementari and Alizee.

    For Head Trainer in Australian James Cummings, his first full season in the job ends with inevitable reflection on his team’s achievements of the past year, but with eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead.

    “There are certainly some very satisfying aspects to look back on, but our concern now is for the future, to maintain and improve on the standards we’ve set,” Cummings said.

    “Kementari and Alizee are back in work, we have a fabulous crop of two-year-olds coming through and some of last year’s youngsters have been trialling well.

    “We have a lot to look forward to in the year ahead.”

    Godolphin Managing Director in Australia Vin Cox endorsed what the numbers revealed about his team.

    “All credit goes to James Cummings and his staff. We’ve finished the year in outstanding style with one of the best performances ever by the Godolphin team, with the best three-year-old colt and filly in the country and with five G1 wins,” Cox said.

    “To build a 20 per cent winners-to-runners strike rate requires a tremendous input from everyone in the organisation, and they performed an extraordinary job.”

    A breakdown of the stable’s overall figures shows that Godolphin runners won 123 city-class races, again with the leading strike rate. At its home base in Sydney, Cummings led in 94 winners for the year to be second on the trainer’s championship.

    Glyn Schofield on Kementari wins The Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill

    Glyn Schofield on Kementari wins The Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill

    In a season that produced winners at a rate of almost one in every five runners, the leading performer was Alizee.

    The daughter of Sepoy won her maiden on the second day of the season and went on to win two G1 races, two at G2 and A$1.36 million in prizemoney. She is expected to target the major mile races of the spring.

    Kementari, a son of Lonhro, gained his G1 success in the Randwick Guineas, he won two more Group races and was placed in three others.

    He is to resume racing in the G2 Missile Stakes on Saturday, August 4, with consideration being given to a start in Australia’s richest race, and the richest on turf in the world, the A$13 million The Everest on Saturday, October 18 at Randwick.

    The past season also confirmed Impending’s position among Australia’s best sprinters. He won his second G1 in the Kingsford Smith Cup in Brisbane.

    He will commence stud duties at Northwood Park in Victoria with a race record to match  his immaculate pedigree.

    The new season will also see the return of Godolphin’s most successful Australian-trained competitor, Hartnell.

    The winner of 12 races and A$4.8 million, Hartnell will resume on Saturday, August 18 in the G2 P B Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield, a race in which he made a winning spring debut last year.

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