Superstar Anamoe has met every challenge in his career but, with Easter approaching, trainer James Cummings has elevated the task of presented by the Queen Elizabeth Stakes raiders at his final Australian appearance to biblical proportions.
The William Haggas-trained Dubai Honour has usurped Anamoe as favourite for the showpiece of The Championships, but it’s a challenge that excites Cummings with his nine-time group 1 winner.
Anamoe will face his biggest challenge in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.Credit:Racing Photos
“Anamoe has taken them all on, his whole career,” Cummings said. “We have challenged with him at two in the Golden Slipper, at three in the Cox Plate and the Queen Elizabeth, and now at four he faces not only the best from Australia but from the other side of the world.
“He has never disappointed us, even though he was beaten into second in a Golden Slipper, a Cox Plate and a Golden Rose. He is a remarkable horse.
“But this is the ultimate challenge for him in Australia. Apart from an interesting horse from Japan [Unicorn Lion], there is a very dangerous horse from Great Britain [Dubai Honour], who is like taking on Lazarus because William Haggas has resurrected this horse’s career.
“It has been a brilliant training effort, and he has come out here and won a Ranvet Stakes with ease. It makes him into an outstanding foe for us and, as always, Anamoe is ready to rise to the challenge.
“It has been built as the race of the autumn, and I think it will live up to the billing.”
Dubai Honour had not won in 18 months before he toyed with the Ranvet field a couple of weeks ago, but he has always been earmarked as a good horse. He was the runner-up in the Champions Stakes as a three-year-old in 2021 and then ran fourth in a Hong Kong International Cup. His four-year-old season failed to supply a win, but Haggas was keen to follow the path of his two-time Queen Elizabeth winner Addeybb.
“Dubai Honour lost his way there for a while but he always had very good talent,” said Haggas, who arrived in Sydney on Monday.
“He looks really well. We were very happy with him when we left home and he’s continued to thrive. I think he looks great.
“He surprised me with how well he handled the firm track at Rosehill and the way he won.
“His form in England suggests he is [better on a rain-affected surface], but we’ll see on Saturday.”
Anamoe has developed into the best horse to grace the turf in Australia since Winx. He would match her feat of winning seven group 1s in an Australian season with a victory in the Queen Elizabeth to go with his spring wins in the Winx Stakes, George Main, Might and Power, and Cox Plate, and autumn triumphs in the Chipping Norton Stakes and
George Ryder.
Cummings has had the perfect preparation with Anamoe, winning the Apollo Stakes, Chipping Norton and Ryder in a campaign that mirrors Winx in her glory years.
The spectre of a wet track doesn’t worry Cummings as long as it is not bottomless.
“Everything is in order with him,” Cummings said. “If we get a track where he can be sure-footed and where the best horse wins, it will be ideal.
“You have to remember he has won a Cox Plate and a Rosehill Guineas on a heavy tracks and was dynamic on a Randwick soft in the Sires as a two-year-old.
“We want the sun out and shining and the horses to be sure-footed. If we get that, it will be a real contest because we know Anamoe will be at his best.”
Cummings is enjoying the pressure leading into the Queen Elizabeth this year as opposed to last year when Anamoe spiked a temperature 10 days out when favourite for this race.
“It is different this time because everything has gone to plan,” Cummings said. “We were playing catch-up a little last year, then we got that bottomless track where he was never comfortable.
“Tommy Berry looked after him in the end, and now we are seeing the horse he is.
“Hopefully, we will see that again on the weekend.”
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