Feature Story

Cummings and MacDonald combine to broadside Champagne Stakes foes

Cummings and MacDonald combine to broadside Champagne Stakes foes Apr 20, 2024

By Sam Turner - 


Godolphin claimed their fourth Group 1 success of the autumn when Broadsiding ploughed through the Randwick mud to bravely land the Champagne Stakes.

Cylinder, Zapateo and Cascadian have all obliged for the Boys in Blue in recent weeks and the three-quarter length success for the talented son of Too Darn Hot was Godolphin’s sixth success at the top level this season, but the first for a colt.

Victory for Broadsiding was far from a total surprise to conditioner James Cummings given the sire of progressive juvenile had coped with soft ground well during his career, while the success was rider James McDonald’s 13th G1 win of the season, four short of a new record.

Cummings said: “This is a big deal for the farm, to get the first two-year-old colt to win a Group 1 this season is amazing.

“This colt is out of a Street Cry mare; he’s got a big future. He’s taken down a couple of big guns and has got a very interesting future, being by Too Darn Hot who is an emerging sire for us.

“He (Too Darn Hot) was an exceptional two-year-old himself; he won by seven lengths on his debut as a two-year-old on a softish track and that gave me a little bit of confidence today.”

McDonald was also quick to praise his mount after he coped well with testing conditions to deliver yet another top-level win for the Kiwi pilot.

He said: “It’s not a lot of fun out there but when you win a Group 1, I suppose it’s good fun.

“Gee, he’s a trier. He had it written all over him from his last start, so I came here with good confidence as I thought he would handle conditions well.”


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