Randwick Guineas awaits Man From Uncle after Eskimo Prince win
THE Anthony Cummings-trained Man From Uncle has made a spectacular return to racing and will now eye off its first group 1 title after claiming the Group 3 Eskimo Prince at Randwick.
The three-year-old gelding returned to the winner’s circle after a three-month layoff and had to do it the hard way, racing three wide for the majority of the trip, but the Uncle Mo product hit the line hard and saluted to return $21 at Sportsbet.com.au.
R6 @royalrandwick ACJC Eskimo Prince 1. Man From Uncle 2. Guard of Honour 3. Generalissimo – Neck x Short Nk (1.11.20 35.54) pic.twitter.com/HjM4x5ibaC
— Australian Turf Club (@atc_races) February 4, 2017
Never one to shy away from the big statement, Anthony Cummings believes he has ‘a group 1 standard’ prospect on his hands.
“I think the first and most logical step, certainly after today is the Randwick Guineas.” The trainer said.
Man From Uncle rocketed home to surge past Guard Of Honour ($2.30 the place at Crownbet.com.au), which fought hard for second, while Generalismo found the split when it needed to, but failed to find an adequate kick to finish back in third and return $4.40 at WilliamHill.com.au.
In true Cummings style ,the son of Bart has put monumental expectations on one his gallopers, but jockey Jason Colllett would not have it any other way.
“He’s not bad Anthony,” jockey Jason Collett joked after the race.
“I heard a comment before the race of ‘Anthony’s thrown him in the deep end again’, (but) he’s not a bad judge.
“He’s a lovely horse and he’s shown that today.”
The win was Man From Uncle’s second start at Randwick, which has yielded a first and a second placing.
Cummings believes the three-year-old ‘loves (the) track’ and predicts there are better things to come for the talented gelding.
“He’s a really nice horse,” Cummings said.
“He’s got a really bright future in front of him, he’s got some good races coming up on his program and there’s no doubt he’ll take a strong part in all of those.”
“It’s a matter of what the landscape looks like after that, but I think that really is an achievable race for him.”