James Cummings is off the mark in Hong Kong and his first win in the city could not have been for a more fitting patron: Grand Eagle is the horse for the history books, wearing the white and maroon silks of the Go Racing Syndicate, colours forever synonymous in Hong Kong with the man behind the collective, the legendary John Moore.
Cummings gave credit to the retired seven-time champion trainer – as well as Moore’s bloodstock agent son George Moore – when he spoke in the immediate aftermath of Grand Eagle’s Sha Tin breakthrough in a 1200-metre Class 3 handicap on Monday.
“John Moore and George Moore have got a great eye for a horse,” Cummings said. “Grand Eagle is just another lovely individual that they’ve thankfully entrusted me with the care of.
“John in particular gets a shout-out,” he added, “because he’s obviously managed this horse, and of course he’s spent a lot of time giving me advice along the way to help me get here.”
This is something more than Moore simply sending a horse to the new trainer in town, a transfer in fact from the stable of the hot young prospect from this time last year, David Eustace, whom Moore told Idol Horse had “done a good job” despite the horse moving on after two races for the yard.
Moore was absent from Grand Eagle’s post-race winning photo with Cummings under the Sha Tin winner’s arch, he was in Sydney, Australia where he has been putting his famous ‘eye’ to good use at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale.
“I’d already spoken to James in the past, that when the opportunity arose, we’d have horses in his stables,” Moore said by phone. “It managed to come to fruition today and I look forward to another win or two.
“His grandfather, Bart Cummings, was one of my first trainers, because way back when I first started training, I bought a filly for Alan Li, the Jockey Club chairman, and said I’d like to put it with Bart Cummings, so we did. That was the first connection with Bart Cummings. So, it goes to way back then in the 1980s.”
Cummings has arrived in Hong Kong with a reputation and some gravitas, not only as the grandson of the iconic “Cups King” and son of Group 1 trainer Anthony Cummings, but also as a proven top-level trainer in his own right for the mighty Godolphin operation in Australia.
He also has the potential perhaps to fill at least some of the void Moore vacated when mandatory retirement age rules in 2020 – since changed – forced him to put down his stopwatch and binoculars and vacate the Sha Tin trainers’ tower.
“John has got an amazing eye for a horse. He’s been able to give me some, well, actually, a lot of confidence in how to prepare this horse,” Cummings said.
“I’ve had a couple of really good long talks with John, not only about Grand Eagle, but about Hong Kong in general and about how to go about running your own business.”
Those talks were not exclusive to Moore, with Cummings tapping into the knowledge and expertise of several of his peers in preparation for this season, and lauding the “collegiate” nature of the Sha Tin trainers’ stand. But Moore’s experiences have provided a deep well of information.
Moore achieved notable success with elite level PPs (private purchases) – horses already raced before import to Hong Kong – particularly out of Europe: stars like Viva Pataca, Designs On Rome, Military Attack, Dan Excel, Xtension and more. No trainer since has been able to replicate the scale of Moore’s achievements with that type of PP.
One of the things that set Moore apart in his quest for the best PPs – aside from the budget he was armed with – was going on the road each summer to see for himself which horses might make the grade and were worth the investment.
“We’ve talked, and he’s listening,” Moore said. “He’s been in England this past summer, he went there and bought two horses, I believe, while he was over there. When we’ve got together and we’ve had lunch or whatever, I’ve been drilling him with respect to what I was doing in those days to personally fly over to Europe – and elsewhere – and identify the horses that suited the eye, had the form on the board, maybe a bit of pedigree, but it always worked.”
Two eye-catching, big-money purchases out of England now in Cumming’s stable are Generic and Shayem, while G1 Queensland Derby winner Providence is a high-class PP out of Australia.
“The trip away, the time on the road is very well spent,” Moore added. “James is the only one that I’ve heard about that’s making an effort to get over to Europe to buy horses within his budget that fit the eye, instead of relying on agents.”
Cummings and Moore relied on Jerry Chau when it came to race-riding execution this time, and the leading homegrown jockey did not disappoint. He settled Grand Eagle behind mid-pack on the fence, shifted out for a run between horses in the home straight, and held on to his mount before asking for a late finishing burst that brought the victory.
“Jerry Chau, to me, is like a local Hugh Bowman,” Cummings said. “He has good hands, a patient disposition. Last year’s Tony Cruz Award winner.
“I spent a lot of time watching the races in Hong Kong more closely last season, and I like his style. So, I was very keen to see him link up with a horse like Grand Eagle because I thought it was just what the doctor ordered.”
Moore was equally delighted with Chau, describing him as “riding like a man possessed” at the moment.
“The horse was ridden to perfection,” Moore said. “When James looked at the replays of when Nash (Rawiller) rode him in Australia, he instructed Jerry to see if he could ride the same way and Jerry rode it perfectly.
“Andrea Atzeni got off last start and said this horse is going to improve and I’d like to ride him again, but it didn’t fit his engagements. So, James said, ‘What about Jerry Chau?’ I said, ‘Perfect, I’d love to have him on board.’”
Moore is clearly on board with Cummings and after Grand Eagle’s breakthrough, it would be no surprise to see one or two more horses head to the new man’s stable carrying the white and maroon of the old trainer’s current syndicate. ∎
