Cummings pushing Avilius to his limits

ALTHOUGH Avilius is a $ 2.15 favourite his trainer James Cummings believes the race named after his grandfather The Bart Cummings will be the toughest test yet in Australia for his imported galloper.

Avilius has been so good in his three Australian wins in Sydney he is a $ 13 equal favourite for the Melbourne Cup and is a $ 9 chance for the Caulfield Cup.

The reward for winning today’s The Bart Cummings is the victor gains an automatic start in the Melbourne Cup.

Avilius needs to win as he is number 56 in the Cup ballot order. A win would also boost his chance of gaining a Caulfield Cup start as he’s number 57 in the order of entry for that race and needs a rehandicap.

Cummings skipped last Saturday’s The Metropolitan to try and win The Bart Cummings and get a start in the Melbourne Cup with the Godolphin owned galloper.

“This is his toughest challenge in Australia, he has 58.5kg and is coming up against better horses all the time,” Cummings said.

“He’s got more and more upside but so too have his rivals. It’s going to be a high pressure race.

“He’s got to step up and take up the challenge.”

Avilius has only had one start over 2400m and he finished second to the horse rated the seventh best in the world Cracksman in the Group 2 Prix Niel at Chantilly when he was trained by Andre Fabre.

Cummings wants to see Avilius win over the 2500m of today’s race to prove that he can do it.

“Avilius has enjoyed a good three weeks since his last run in the Kingston Town and is primed for this challenge,” Cummings said.

“He’s shown me he can step onto his Melbourne leg quite comfortably in his work.

“He still seems full of energy the deeper he’s going into his preparation. We hope to see him enjoy the pressure of such an important race.”