Cascadian in good shape ahead of CF Orr Stakes
James Cummings is “delighted” with the way Cascadian has been preparing for his first-up assignment in Saturday’s Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
Cascadian was a dual-acceptor for both the C.F. Orr and the Apollo Stakes at Randwick; however, Cummings said it was always his intention to split his Group 1 winners, with Paulele staying in Sydney.
The Doncaster Mile-winning Cascadian was only narrowly defeated in the Cantala Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Derby Day, before backing up a week later to run 1.25 lengths behind Zaaki in the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) in what was his last run of the preparation.
The baldy-faced chestnut was given a quiet trial at Randwick on January 24 over 900m under Hugh Bowman where he was asked for a bit of an effort after the post.
The seven-year-old son of New Approach has won two races from seven starts when first-up, so his trainer is of the belief that he could surprise a few on Saturday.
Doncaster winner CASCADIAN the 9th Gr1 winner for New Approach.@godolphin @JamesCummings88 @jamieleekah07 @DarleyEurope @DarleyStallions pic.twitter.com/AA2RVT9dKW
— Pedigree Update (@pedigreeupdate) April 10, 2021
“We’re delighted by the way the horse is going,” Cummings said in his weekly stable update.
“I actually feel like we’ve got him quite forward.
“He looks like getting a sweet run from that inner draw at Caulfield.
“We’ve been delighted by the way he’s been training, so much so that he could run a very promising race first-up and that would be good to see for the sake of laying a good platform for the rest of his preparation.”
Cascadian will be partnered by Damien Oliver in the C.F. Orr Stakes, with the 112-rater set to jump from barrier one.
The gelding is one of the outsiders of the 12-horse field, with online bookmakers rating him a $19 chance in his first run for the autumn.
Cummings will be hoping to send the galloper to the All-Star Mile, where he is currently 26th on the voting leaderboard.
Also aimed at the All-Star Mile is Cummings’ Group 1-winning mare Colette.
The five-year-old daughter of Hallowed Crown will resume in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes at Randwick on Saturday, over 1400m.
Damien Oliver produces a peach to win his 124th G1. 🐐
COLETTE is an absolute star. ⭐@godolphin @FlemingtonVRC pic.twitter.com/wpAP4bkedC
— Racing.com (@Racing) October 30, 2021
Tim Clark is set to ride the $6.8 million earner from barrier four in her first-up run, where she sits on the third line of betting at $6.50 behind Think It Over ($4.20) and Verry Elleegant ($5).
Colette resumed in this race 12 months ago and proved far too good, defeating Kolding and Verry Elleegant by two lengths on a favourable Soft 7 surface.
“She’s going really well,” Cummings said.
“She’s moving great and we like the way she hit the line in her barrier trial at Randwick.
“She has won first-up over seven furlongs at Randwick before and she looks like getting a good run from the draw.
“As strong a race as it is it would be good to see her running well against these horses and putting herself right back in the mix.
“Surely she’s going to get a wet track sometime this preparation.”
Cummings is set to saddle up both Heresy and Arcaded in the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) at Randwick, where they will tackle Australia’s boom horse, Espiona.