Godolphin trainer James Cummings delighted Nash Rawiller was available to ride Vilana in Saturday’s Silver Eagle as his blue army looks to continue a spectacular spring across the country.
The Fred Best Stakes winner returns in the Silver Eagle, alongside first-up winner Brigantine, on a day when the global behemoth’s stars take Sydney form to Melbourne with Anamoe and Golden Mile to start as favourites in the Might And Power Stakes and Caulfield Guineas respectively.
Sam Clipperton wins on Vilana during The Championships at Randwick. Nash Rawiller takes the ride in the Silver Eagle.Credit:Getty
Cummings, a master of planning and matching jockeys to his horses, has planned a first-up coup with Vilana. He knew Rawiller’s tough style would suit his Hallowed Crown four-year-old, who is twice a winner on the heavy, and was able to get his man.
“When I was looking for a jockey I was very happy to find I could get Nash,” Cummings said. “I think he will suit him and that’s what you want as a trainer: the whole package. Nash is great on those horses that get up on the speed and gets the best out of them.
“We have two horses going to the Silver Eagle and one has won group races and the other [is] great first-up. Rachel King is very happy to be on Brigantine, so we go there with two horses in great condition and two happy riders.”
Vilana won the South Pacific Classic on a heavy Randwick surface during The Championships and showed his quality again in the Fred Best during the Brisbane winter. His style of racing on speed is complimented by a good draw of barrier eight.
“The horse is going beautifully, is fresh up but can handle the ground,” Cummings said. “He gets a very minimal penalty for being a group 3 winner, and he won a pretty stylish group 3.
“He should be open to improvement, but I wouldn’t put it past the horse to be forward enough to be right among the most competitive horses in the race.”
Brigantine returned as a gelding, a winner in a benchmark 88 two weekends ago, so has the benefit of a run under his belt.
“At Randwick, he launched up the middle from the three-wide line in the same fashion he left off,” Cummings said. “Now he’s coming up against a few of the big guns, it’s a big step up in class into Test match footy here.
“He’s really trained on beautifully and looks great. The conditions will be very testing, so having a run under his belt will be an advantage.”
Godolphin’s Australian head trainer James Cummings.Credit:Getty
Cummings will be well represented by a three-year-old team that has been protected until now in the Roman Consul Stakes and Tapp-Craig at Randwick, but the focus for Godolphin in terms of three-year-olds will be Golden Mile, who steps from a fourth in the Golden Rose to the Caulfield Guineas.
“He just didn’t quite get it right in the Golden Rose,” Cummings said. “He got used up, we had Daumier underneath us and a bit more pressure went on before the turn than we wanted.
“The horse was found wanting by less than 1½ lengths to a very, very good horse in Jacquinot, who flew like an absolute machine to win on the line against our filly [In Secret] we regard as an elite three-year-old filly.
“I have thought the mile would be his trip and he gets his chance to show it and give our promising stallion Astern another group 1 on Saturday.”
Anamoe took two group 1s in the Winx Stakes and George Main Stakes from Sydney before heading to Melbourne and is ready to confirm himself as the Cox Plate favourite at Caulfield.
“That run in the George Main [Stakes at the mile] topped him off beautifully to be stepping up to 2000m,” Cummings said. “All week, he’s been such a happy horse and he’s coming together beautifully.
“He’s going to arrive at Caulfield third-up from a spell in the Might And Power confident he’s going to run a good race.”
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