Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Written by Richard Edmunds
Another chapter was added to Australian racing’s greatest training dynasty when Duais (Shamus Award) won Saturday’s G3 TAB Adrian Knox S. at Randwick.
The emerging filly is trained by Edward Cummings – brother of James, son of Anthony and grandson of Bart. This was a first black-type success for the newest entrant to the Cummings training clan, who began his solo training career in March of 2019.
“This is a big day for me, but it’s a lot of hard work coming to fruition,” he said. “We’ve been working very, very hard the last two years.”
Duais is raced by her breeders, Matthew Irwin and the Harris family, who paid $22,000 to buy her dam Meerlust (Johannesburg {USA}) at the 2009 Inglis Scone Yearling Sale.
Saturday’s Adrian Knox was a black-type debut for Duais, who had picked up two wins and three second placings from her seven previous appearances. She won a maiden race at Newcastle in early December, and scored an impressive last-start win at Warwick Farm on March 31.
Stepping up to the big time on Saturday, Duais raced in midfield before taking command in the straight with a powerful burst.
Bargain (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) provided a late scare with a flying finish from near last, but Duais held on strongly to beat her by 0.5l. Flexible (Hallowed Crown), trained by Cummings’ brother James, was just over 1l away in third.
“She put the writing on the wall last start at Warwick Farm,” winning rider Hugh Bowman said. “I know it was only midweek company, but the feel she gave me, in 3-year-old filly company over this trip, she was going to eat it up.
“She is going to make her presence felt in the Oaks next week if that is where they decide to go. She has got staying filly written all over her. She is strong, she can stay, she settled well today, she joined in when I asked her to and she showed a lot of fight when she needed to.
"She (Duais) has got staying filly written all over her. She is strong, she can stay, she settled well today, she joined in when I asked her to and she showed a lot of fight when she needed to." - Hugh Bowman
“And she has a Cummings training her. Congratulations to Edward, he has managed her very well. Full credit to him. She has got a bright future, but obviously so does he.”
Cummings will wait a few days before committing to backing up in the G1 Australian Oaks next Saturday.
“I’ll look forward to it after Tuesday morning, once we get through morning work and see how she is,” he said. “But, all things going well, she’ll be here in seven days’ time.
“She’s always been earmarked a filly with a bright future. Her half-sister Baccarat Baby started winning nice races just after she arrived at the stable, so, naturally, the pressure was amped up a little bit more after that. But we were very thankful for the opportunity to potentially have a filly that could do something similar. And it’s really nice that we’ve been able to set a goal, set a plan for her, and thus far it’s all come off.”
