Big changes are coming next season with Godolphin going public

The decision made by Godolphin to go public from next season is a huge one for the sport in general. They have had a huge amount of success privately since they arrived in Australia. It is a move that will allow them some more flexibility and add some more trainers to their roster.

Godolphin going public after almost two decades

In 2007, Godolphin set up shop at Woodlands. Peter Snowden was the first man with the private trainer tag, producing the likes of Sepoy, Helmet and Denman for the team.

Particularly adept with a two-year-old, Snowden, it was said, became frustrated with the volume of good horses sent to Dubai to race for the operation. There was also the issue that the home-bred runners using Godolphin’s own sires were not performing as well as perhaps would have been expected.

It would be John O’Shea who took over the reins at Woodlands and with 10 Group 1 winners in his three years in charge, he would suffer from the fallout of horses sent to Dubai and the lack of genuine top-class talent at his disposal.

In 2017, James Cummings was drafted in to take over and would send out more than 200 winners in each of his first three seasons in charge at Woodlands. The volume of runners and also winners have fallen away in recent years, though the quality that Cummings has been able to maintain with Group 1 horses has not dipped.

Could James Cummings return to Leilani Lodge?

There have been 50 Group 1 winners trained by Cummings so far in his career. They included the sensational Anamoe and in more recent times, Broadsiding has become the flag bearer for the stable.

Cummings started his training career at Leilani Lodge at Randwick and he has expressed an interest to go back to where it all began. It is a stable that was made famous by Cummings’ grandfather Bart, the most successful trainer in the history of the Melbourne Cup with 12 winners.

The stable has been vacant for a few months since Cummings’ father had to vacate. Cummings is not the only trainer with his eyes on the property. however, with applications being taken until next week for the right to take over the yard.

Godolphin announced they will still use Cummings to train

It has already been stated that Cummings will still train for Godolphin next season. He will retain Carbine Lodge at Flemington which Godolphin has with a number of stars like Tom Kitten, Zardozi and Tempted already being announced to be staying in the care of Cummings.

The big question now is who will Godolphin send other horses to? They have already announced that there will be no reduction in runners next season, with the plan still being to try and generate the next generation from their own breeding stock.

Greater flexibility for the Godolphin business was mentioned by the Managing Director of Godolphin Australia, Andy Makiv. How the horses will be spread out is going to be a massive point of discussion now for the next three months until the season starts on August 1. Any trainer updates are likely to be big news in that time so we are in for an interesting end to this season.

When looking over the big races on the betting sites, the eye has often been drawn to whatever James Cummings has running. One of the most talented trainers in the country, next season is going to be a big test for both him and Godolphin.