James
Cummings is looking for a gear change to bring success this Saturday for Godolphin
in their bid to create a new stallion prospect with a win in the Group I VRC
Coolmore Stud Stakes.
Since the race was upgraded to Group I status in 2006, Godolphin have won it
only once with Sepoy in 2011 and they would love to improve their record.
Kementari (pictured Steve Hart) heads into arguably Australia's most important three-year-old race
with the winkers to be applied after he galloped down the famous Flemington
straight course on Tuesday in company with his stablemate Bandipur in the gear.
"The race is a hugely important race for the company (Godolphin)," Cummings
told Clinton Payne of Racenet. "These colts are racing for a lot more than just
the prizemoney.
"The winner of this race, if a colt, has a stud career ahead of him."
Kementari comes out of the Caulfield Guineas where the son of Lonhro looked the
winner 100 metres from home before being gunned down late by the Mick
Price-trained Mighty Boss.
"We're happy to run him in them," Cummings said. "It's a case of trying
something with him without getting carried away.
"He's a fast colt and he's giving me a lot but at times it's all a bit of a
game for Kementari.
"He's only lightly-raced this preparation, he only had two lead-up runs into
the Caulfield Guineas.
"He hasn't been hammered and has trained on like a horse that could really
launch late at them. I think he's got another one in him."
A half-brother to stakes-winner Telperion, Kementari comes from the Joy and Fun
branch of the Denise's Joy family so has pedigree aplenty should a Group I win
land next to his name and a stud career ensue.
Kementari is likely to be joined in the Coolmore Stud Stakes by his
stablemates, the undefeated Viridine (Poet's Voice (GB) and Malahat (Exceed and
Excel), the horse that beat Kementari on debut by 2-1/4 lengths.
Malahat will also have a gear change on Saturday with blinkers added to his
race day attire while there's no changes for Viridine.
"I'm really looking forward to getting Malahat back onto a firm track on
Saturday," Cumming said.
"He's an interesting runner for us and one that has good speed about him.
"The hardest to beat for us would have to be Viridine. He is the pure speed
sprinter.
"He's improved out of the Roman Consul, his attitude is improving all the time
and he worked great this morning which he normally does."