James Cummings has been waiting to see a championship performance from Anamoe this autumn and the colt has delivered it in the Rosehill Guineas, bringing a mix of relief, excitement and vindication for the Godolphin head trainer.
Cummings hatched a plan to kick off Anamoe’s campaign early and give the three-year-old a solid platform before his major goals.
He has had to be patient, with a lone win in the Hobartville Stakes nestled in among minor placings in the Expressway Stakes and Randwick Guineas, but Cummings finally got the performance he’d been looking for on Saturday.
Getting out to 2000 metres for the first time since the Cox Plate, Anamoe ($1.70 fav) thrashed Converge ($3.80) by 6-1/2 lengths with Forgot You ($11) another three-quarters of a length away.
“If that’s not the performance of a champion three-year-old this season, I don’t know what is,” Cummings said.
“The horse was here 12 months ago running second in the Golden Slipper after drawing barrier 15 of 15. He is just a pure racehorse, an absolute athlete and he is just a pleasure to do anything with.
“He didn’t fluke his big performance in the Cox Plate. I felt he had more to show even after he’d won the Caulfield Guineas and I had that feeling after the Randwick Guineas two weeks ago, that this would be his opportunity to show it and he has certainly delivered in spades.”
Cummings’ next dilemma is whether to give Anamoe another run before next month’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes when he is set to clash with Horse Of The Year Verry Elleegant, Saturday’s Ranvet Stakes winner Montefilia and Zaaki.
Next Saturday’s Tancred Stakes (2400m) and the ATC Australian Derby (2400m) are the two races Cummings will consider as possible lead-up runs.
Tim Clark felt Converge didn’t handle the heavy Rosehill track as well as he did at Randwick but conceded Anamoe was the better horse on the day.
“He probably wasn’t as effective on that heavier ground today,” Clark said.
“He ran well. Winner was too good for us.”
Profondo raced fiercely in the early stages, prompting Hugh Bowman to take him to the front and he couldn’t finish off, finishing fourth and more than 8-1/2 lengths behind Anamoe.
“He just ran his race upside down. Back to the drawing board,” Bowman said.