Godolphin ready for international races
dubai -- After a great outing in Australia last weekend, Godolphin will be aiming for more silverware when they send out runners again Down Under as well as across the Atlantic on Saturday.
Following Trekking’s triumph in Adelaide which brought up Godolphin’s fourth Group 1 winner of the season, the Dubai-based racing operation are doublehanded in both Australia and across the pond in the United States.
Kementari and promising two-year-old colt Beyliks continue their comebacks to racing at the Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane.
Kementari, who finished fifth in his last outing, the Group 3 BRC Sprint at Doomben earlier this month, is among a strong field of 16 runners for the Group 2 Victory Stakes and breaks from gate 13.
The mount of Ryan Maloney and saddled by James Cummings, Godolphin’s head trainer in Australia, Kementari has four wins from 22 starts.
The five-year-old son of Lonhro, Kementari is being prepped for a possible run in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap at the same venue on June 6.
On paper his last run was easy to forgive, we’ve forged ahead with the horse and I think he can win,” said James Cummings.
“There were some unusual factors as well. The Covid-19 regulations meant we had to get him up to Queensland a couple of days earlier than I would have liked
and the truck was stuck on the side of the road in heavy rain for a couple of hours. It was like sitting on the tarmac in a plane – nobody likes that,” Cummings added of the Group 1 Randwick Guineas winner.
Meanwhile, Cummings’ other runner Beyliks will break from stall 1 in the Group 2 Classic, a contest over six furlongs and on turf.
Beyliks, the sibling of Kementari, is also making a return after third place finishes in the Group 3 Arrowfield Breeders Plate last year and the Iron Jack Handicap in January.
Those have been his only two runs so far.
“He’s small but he’s packed full of quality,” Cummings said.
“He was competitive in the Breeders
Plate and then ran well on a heavy track behind Cellsabeel at his only other run,” he added.
Beyliks will be the ride of Larry Cassidy.
Miles away at Churchill Downs, home to the Kentucky Derby, Maxfield and Mystic Guide lead Godolphin’s charge in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes.
To be contested on the main dirt track over a mile and 110 yards, the pair are among 12 runners.
And Maxfield, trained by Brendan P Walsh, will be aiming for a hat-trick of wins after triumphing in both his starts — Maiden Special Weight and the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Churchill Downs and Keeneland respectively, last year.