'Anamoe’s one of the most anticipated young sires hitting the stallion roster for a long time'

James Cummings will complete his sixth full season as Godolphin Australia’s head trainer, a high-pressure but coveted role within thoroughbred racing on a global scale.

Top-flight racing is what matters most to Cummings, Godolphin and the operation’s owner Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, which is why Australia has played an increasingly important role for the international operation in its pursuit of elite stallions.

Nine-time Group 1 winner Anamoe has been retired to the stud arm Darley in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, the gamble to race him on at four paying off handsomely for the Blue Army, with the stallion adding six victories at the highest level to his already impressive CV.

Cummings was, of course, in charge of Anamoe’s illustrious 25-start career, one which included a Cox Plate victory in the 2022-23 season and an ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes two years earlier.

James Cummings: Godolphin Australia’s head trainer for six yearsCredit: Vince Caligiuri

The decision makers at Godolphin Australia elected not to travel Anamoe to Royal Ascot for the Queen Anne Stakes in June and Cummings harbours no regrets.

“It goes without saying that, as the trainer of the horse, I have no doubt that Anamoe would have gone over there, having watched the race…and James McDonald would have had him camped just a few lengths from the lead,” Cummings told ANZ's Business Of Bloodstock podcast. 

“The pace was looking like it was quite honest and he would have just been cruising up in them. Would he have been up for the fight? I can't question my horse. I think he either finishes first or second. 

“I really think he would have been prepared to run that well, but there was a decision to make and how could you argue against the commercial realities of, ‘how much was there for us to be gaining by taking him there?’ 

“Lots of colts end up being retired as tired horses off the track. Anamoe certainly won't be in that list. 

“He was one horse who we were brave with the decision to keep him in training as a four-year-old, he won seven out of nine races and he won six more Group 1s, and he’s one of the most anticipated young sires hitting the stallion roster for a long, long time. 

“Perhaps maybe even going back to a horse like So You Think and, for our team, that is an incredibly exciting position to be in.”

Anamoe will stand for an introductory fee of A$121,000 (£62,706/€73,106). 

With Exceed And Excel turning 23 and Lonhro recently pensioned, a lot will rest on Godolphin’s suite of young sires, such as Microphone and high-profile shuttlers Blue Point and Too Darn Hot.

Blue Point: "They look like absolute bullets"Credit: Patrick McCann

The trio will have their first southern hemisphere-bred runners in the new season; expectations are high and given how well Blue Point and Too Darn Hot’s first-crop runners in the northern hemisphere have performed, their reputations have received a major boost. 

Cummings revealed early feedback from track riders at Godolphin and whispers from rival stables with Blue Points in work had been positive.

“They look like absolute bullets and that can't be terribly surprising for us, considering he was such a strong sprinter in that purple patch of form where he put in something like five wins in a row, he was just so impressive,” Cummings says. 

“They are showing all the qualities of young stock that are forward and precocious, they're in the hands of the riders. We’re getting good feedback regularly. They're handling everything that my system’s prepared to throw them at this stage. And that is, to me, the cornerstone of their potential successes.”

The Too Darn Hots might not be as “early” as the Blue Points, but Cummings hasn’t been disappointed.

“I wouldn't be surprised if I had to wait a little longer with them. Don't get me wrong, I think we'll get a few two-year-olds run by Too Darn Hot with the progeny that we've got through the stable so far,” the trainer said. 

“But I just think if I take a little bit longer with them, I think my horses will be better off [later on] but they've grown well, they've developed the right way, they're working with us and, look, I just think that that's probably an interesting observation that's occurred to us so far.”

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