Haunted brings up Stakes-race century for Cummings

Godolphin’s Australian team produced it’s 100^th Stakes win under the guidance of head trainer James Cummings when Haunted scored convincingly in Wednesday’s Listed Village Stakes at Caulfield.

For Haunted the win was his seventh, and first at Stakes level and he could hardly have been more impressive.

After jumping well and taking the perfect trail behind the leader, Haunted cruised alongside at the 150m and had something in hand in registering a half-length win.

The win also came after a campaign that began over the same Caulfield 1,200m course in April.

For Cummings, though, it marked a more significant milestone than for the horse.

The grandson of legendary trainer Bart Cummings took over as head trainer in July 2017 and had a single Stakes winner in the season that ended two weeks later.

The following season his team produced 23 black-type successes before a 2018-2019 season in which they an Australian record 62 Stakes wins were recorded including the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes victory of Kiamichi.

In the current season that began on 1 August, the Cummings’ team has prepared 14 Stakes winners, including three at G1, the most recent last Saturday when Flit took out the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield.

Cummings described Haunted’s win, and the stable’s previous 99 Stakes winners as a tribute to the team and the opportunities provided by Godolphin’s founder Sheikh Mohammed.

“This is a very proud milestone for the whole team at Godolphin,” Cummings said.

“We have a devoted team who makes everything possible, without them, the operation couldn’t function."

“We also have an owner who provides us with horses and facilities that are second to none.”

Haunted is likely to continue his campaign at Flemington during Melbourne Cup week.