Godolphin will start laying the foundations for the autumn carnival with regally bred fillies Exploring and Shaken at Randwick on Saturday.
Exploring (Brazen Beau x Cristobal) is already a stakes winner from the group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude, and Shaken is from a mating of I Am Invincible and Golden Slipper placegetter Earthquake.
Exploring returns at Randwick early to get a fitness edge for stakes races in February.Credit: Getty
Trainer James Cummings has given the three-year-olds the challenge of taking on older horses in separate races at Randwick, where he also has the promising Legio Ten taking the next step in his development.
Exploring starts the day for the blue army in a benchmark 78, where she is a $3.50 favourite despite coming off a six-month break.
“It is just good to have a filly like Exploring back because she has had a long break since her last win,” Cummings said. “She has always been talented and has had two trials, but we want to get her back racing and see where she fits in.”
Exploring has three wins from six starts, and two of her defeats were in the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper as a two-year-old. In her last appearance in July, she was simply too quick for the promising Archo Nacho, which has since been sold to Hong Kong.
“She has always been a very fast horse, and we can get a couple of runs into her to have a fitness edge for the autumn,” Cummings said.“It’s a timing thing with her because you don’t want them to have too long off.
“It’s always hard for three-year-olds at this time of year against the older horses, and she has her share of weight with 58.5 kilos, but she is ready to go.”
Shaken, which like Exploring has been made favourite by punters, has had the benefit of a Warwick Farm win after returning from a three-month ban for a race-day bled.
Cummings wants to keep stepping Shaken through the grades with a view towards February, when the three-year-old stakes races begin.
She has been heavily supported from $3.60 into $2.70 favourite in a benchmark 72 restricted to three and four-year-olds, which closes the program.
“She didn’t surprise us or anyone else with the win at Warwick Farm when she was a short-priced favourite, but this is another step for her,” Cummings said. “I think everyone knows the races you look at with these three-year-old fillies, but we have to find out if these fillies are up to that standard.
“That is what we are doing with Shaken. Exploring already has the black-type win but, given her breeding, we would like Shaken to eventually get to that level as well.”
Legio Ten will make three favourites in Godolphin blue at Randwick, and he looks better suited than he was in his return Rosehill win in December, where he came with a flying finish despite a slow tempo.
Legio Ten steps up in trip and grade in a benchmark 88 over 1200m and is a $3.80 chance in a race that sets up well for him with plenty of speed.
“There is no rush with him. You can see he had a trial since his first-up win, and we are picking the right races for him to get through his grades,” Cummings said.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
