Broadsiding has his eye on the Cox Plate

Image: Bruno Cannatelli

James Cummings remains unfazed by the Caulfield Guineas’ defeat to Broadside ahead of the Cox Plate

Circumstances weren’t right for Broadsiding in the Caulfield Guineas but Godolphin trainer James Cummings hasn’t lost faith in the stallion heading into the Cox Plate.

It is 40 years since Red Anchor completed the Caulfield Guineas – Cox Plate double, while the more recent three-year-old Cox Plate winners were beaten in the Caulfield Feature two weeks earlier.

Shamus Award finished third at the 2013 Guineas before shining on Cox Plate Day, while So You Think finished fifth at Caulfield in 2010 before winning the Weight for Age Championship at The Valley.

Broadsiding finished fourth in the Caulfield Guineas last week after bad luck struck early in the race and jockey James McDonald was forced to ride on luck.

“He fell victim to a disturbance outside the barriers so he ended up where he landed and James presented the horses in the 225 meters, about four lengths behind,” Cummings said.

“He made up some ground and finished just over a length ahead. On paper there is no doubt that the horse performed worse. Can he recover from this and win a Cox Plate?

“The losers of the Caulfield Guineas have a better record entering the Cox Plate than the winners over the last 40 years, so he goes into the Cox Plate with stored energy that he didn’t use up at Caulfield.

“We would have liked to have seen a really solid Guineas team that would have allowed us to come from behind and get into the race, but it didn’t work out that way.”

This pace is expected to be different in the 2040m at Moonee Valley on Saturday when Pride Of Jenni is in action.

Cummings also said the weather ahead of the 2024 Cox Plate could result in different track conditions to Caulfield Guineas Day.

“There has been bad weather in Melbourne and who knows what we might see next week,” Cummings said.

“We saw the Caulfield track upgraded to Good3 pretty quickly on Guineas Day and next week it could be very different, but the bottom line is it’s a challenging middle distance race for the age and what more can we expect.” Cox record than that.

“With Pride Of Jenni you would expect the Cox Plate to be a little more competitive than last year.”

Broadsiding had its first look at The Valley last Thursday with Jamie Kah on board. The colt has adapted well to the track and Cummings expects nothing different in Saturday’s racing conditions.

“As it is a unique race track, we feel strongly about bringing a horse like Broadsiden to The Valley,” Cummings said.

“But the fact is that good horses can race well anywhere and I have a feeling this race will produce great performances from many of these horses.”

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