Godolphin trainer James Cummings has to stop himself when he talks about exciting three-year-old Aft Cabin because he knows the job is nowhere near done with him.
The Astern colt has a good record – three wins and two seconds – and a stellar reputation that has him a prohibitive $1.65favourite for the feature Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday. But Aft Cabin still has to get the group 1 his talent suggests.
Aft Cabin wins the Eskimo Prince Stakes with some ease on his return at Randwick two weeks ago.Credit:Getty
“He is flying. I’m delighted with him,” Cummings said.
“It is another step forward to his autumn goals. It is a group 2 with a great history, and a lot of beautiful colts have won this race. There is no need for me to boom him; he is doing that himself.”
Aft Cabin was robbed of the chance for a group 1 when he bled in his preparation for the Caulfield Guineas, and tomorrow is a step along the Kementari path to the Randwick Guineas, George Ryder Stakes and Doncaster.
It is five years since Kementari won the Randwick Guineas, and Godolphin hasn’t won the three-year-old classic since.
″Kementari didn’t win a group 1 in his three-year-old spring and came out and did in the autumn,″ Cummings said.
“Aft Cabin is on the same preparation as Kementari. He has to kick goals when we ask him to step up, but we think those races are the right races for him. He has got to earn his reputation by winning and this race is another step he has to climb.”
Aft Cabin returned by outclassing similar opposition to those he faces tomorrow when he left Zou Tiger and Communist in his wake in the Eskimo Prince Stakes a fortnight ago, and he has improved since.
“We’ve been really delighted with his progress since the Eskimo Prince. He couldn’t have started this campaign any better and so far things have been that straightforward that we can’t help but be confident,” Cummings said.
Aft Cabin is important for Astern, which won the Golden Rose and is on the Godolphin stallion roster. Cummings stopped to think about the stallion.
“There is something about the breed with these Asterns. We have another filly by him, Parisal, on the weekend, which won by four lengths at the midweeks last time, and we are excited about her,” Cummings said. “They are just beautiful horses. Aft Cabin has got an amazing action and is just a really classy individual. The horse has attracted enough of his own attention, but he hasn’t surprised us.”
Godolphin should sail past the 100 winners for the season in the next couple of days as Cummings has his best season at the helm, and it seems they are major players in the raft of group 1 races in the coming weeks.
“The good thing about things at the moment is everyone is enjoying it. We are enjoying these good horses,” Cummings said. “It is exciting to be around the stable and staff, particularly with Aft Cabin, In Secret and Anamoe. There is pressure there, but you don’t feel it that much because we know we have some really nice horses.”
Cummings will be at Rosehill for Godolphin’s nine runners, and the Silver Slipper offers an opportunity for Cylinder to put himself into Golden Slipper calculations.
The Exceed And Excel colt ran a couple of seconds in the spring in the Max Less Classic and Merson Cooper Stakes at Caulfield.
″He was a cute horse last year and he has really developed,″ Cummings said. ″He has rounded up a bit, and he might give them a bit of a scare from an inside draw on Saturday.
“The Silver Slipper is always a good measure for a two-year-old, and we think he will measure up.”
