Juggling the conflicting demands of a short-term assignment with those of a longer-term goal is not always an easy task and James Cummings is walking that tightrope with top colt Anamoe.
The Cox Plate runner-up drops back to three-year-old company for his second-up assignment in the Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill where he will look to get back in the winner’s stall after his Expressway Stakes defeat.
Cummings is focused on seeing the Godolphin colt deliver on Saturday while also keeping the bigger picture in view with a raft of Group 1 targets awaiting after this weekend, most notably an increasingly likely clash with Verry Elleegant and Zaaki in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) during The Championships in April.
“We are pretty keen on that race as something of a grand final for him in the autumn,” Cummings said.
“We talked about some of the options again during the week, about what might lay ahead for him in The Championships, and it is looking more and more likely that the Queen Elizabeth will be the race.
“In the short-term, we just have to be quite confident that we have got him right this weekend and make sure that everything sails along smoothly before we saddle him up for this Group Two.”
Anamoe is a $1.75 favourite for the Hobartville, ahead of Converge at $5.50 and the pair are clearly the class runners, both being Group 1 winners over the 1400 metre journey.
The Godolphin colt did go under as a short-priced favourite in the Expressway Stakes (1200m) at weight-for-age but he made ground on a track that was favouring frontrunners and will appreciate a distance rise on Saturday.
“He is going to be much better suited up to seven-furlongs and it’s going to look really good for him at set weights back against the three-year-olds,” Cummings said.
“He’s come on beautifully since the run. We have stuck to our program with him and I’m really pleased with the way he has trained on so well and he has been problem-free heading into the Hobartville.
“It is pretty important to lay good groundwork for what’s going to be a big campaign ahead of him.”
Anamoe will be Godolphin’s sole runner in the Hobartville Stakes with Cummings confirming Victoria Derby runner-up Alegron, who was accepted for races in two states on Saturday, has arrived in Melbourne to tackle the C S Hayes Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.