James Cummings trio primed for Concorde Stakes test
James Cummings will saddle up three runners in Saturday’s Concorde Stakes (1000m) at Randwick as he looks to find a potential sprinter for Godolphin’s Everest slot.
While Group 1-placed sprinter Paulele waits in the wings, Andermatt, Atherlic and Zapateo will look to stake their claim when they step out in the Group 2 event against last year’s Everest placegetters Masked Crusader and Eduardo.
Coming off a dominant first-up win in the Toy Show Quality (1100m) is Zapateo, who boasts form around Mazu – second favourite for The Everest (1200m).
While Cummings is aware that Saturday’s assignment is a big leap for the four-year-old mare, he says he can see her figuring somewhere in the finish.
“It’s a massive jump up in grade, but she’s got an interesting weight pull on some of these horses under set weights and penalties,” the trainer said.
“She’s going to look good over five furlongs with the run under her belt.
“She’ll be arriving here feeling pretty good about herself, having won by a comfortable three lengths in the Toy Show Quality. I’ve been pleased with her since the run, and I can see her running a good race.
“She wasn’t beaten far behind Mazu, then didn’t have the best of luck when beaten a couple of lengths behind him in The Fireball.
“She’s a very capable mare who has got a little better over her break and, hopefully, this will be her best preparation yet.”
Also lining up are two geldings who finished their previous campaigns in a rich vein of form.
Athelric will be looking to extend his winning streak to five after claiming the Listed Queensland Day Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm in early June, while Andermatt is hoping to build on his unbeaten first-up record.
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Following two barnstorming victories in April, Andermatt – a son of Snitzel – was being tossed up as a potential Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) prospect, but after suffering back-to-back defeats, Cummings opted to save him for the spring.
“He’s a very capable wet-tracker,” Cummings said.
“The closer we get to Saturday, the more rain looks like arriving. The forecast is getting wetter and wetter.
“Andermatt had an interesting preparation last time, showed a lot of promise as a sprinter who we’ve taken our time with.
“1000m will be interesting for him, but it’s a big jump to be tackling a horse like Eduardo, who is so seasoned and experienced and a dual G1 winner.
“He gets 4.5kg off him (Eduardo) under set-weights-and-penalty conditions, but he’d be getting a lot more in a handicap.”
While leaning towards Andermatt as the pick of his trio, Cummings isn’t ruling out a forward showing from Athelric, who on Monday placed second in his only barrier trial.
“He’s an interesting runner for us on Saturday,” Cummings said.
“Tackling Eduardo is no mean feat, but he’s a horse that put four metropolitan wins together, culminating in a Stakes win.
“He had a trial on Monday to blow the cobwebs out and he looks like he’s capable of running very well. It won’t hurt to get a bit of a line on a horse like this and the Concorde presents us with that opportunity.”
Andermatt sits on the second line of betting at $4.80 with online bookmakers, while Zapateo and Athelric are $11 and $23 respectively.