James Cummings, the grandson of legendary 12-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Bart, will sensationally walk away from Australian racing and be Hong Kong’s newest trainer.
Only a month after confirming he would end a long and successful stint as Godolphin’s private trainer in Australia on July 31, Cummings will embark on a new challenge and join the Jockey Club’s roster for the 2026-27 season.
It’s a major coup for the Jockey Club to lure a member of the Cummings racing dynasty to Hong Kong, and so soon after he confirmed he would be branching out from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s global breeding and racing empire.
Cummings had indicated his preference to go it alone as a public trainer in Australia – still preparing some of Godolphin’s best horses in Tom Kitten and Tempted – but the lure of a lucrative spell in Hong Kong swayed his thinking.
The 37-year-old has long been mooted as a potential Hong Kong trainer and the timing has proved right, at the end of his Godolphin tenure, to move his young family overseas.
Cummings has already trained 52 Group 1 winners in Australia and has long been earmarked to join turf greats such as his grandfather Bart, Gai Waterhouse, Chris Waller and John Hawkes by the time his training career was finished.
He had formally applied to take over the historic Leilani Lodge stables at Royal Randwick, made famous by Bart for five decades, once he confirmed his Godolphin exit, but insisted he was keeping his options open for the next phase of his career.
The Australian Turf Club had been assessing the merits of Cummings, goliath trainer Ciaron Maher, as well as the partnership of Waterhouse and Adrian Bott for the vacant boxes.
But Cummings has officially withdrawn from the race now he’s set his sights on Hong Kong.
The Victoria Racing Club had already granted Cummings access to Godolphin’s Carbine Lodge at Flemington for his new life as a public trainer, but those stables will also be on the market.
Cummings has long had an association with top Hong Kong-based jockey Hugh Bowman, who rode seven Group 1 winners for the trainer, and the pair will quickly rekindle their friendship in the new season.
James’ imminent departure from Sydney will leave only his brother, Edward, as the sole Cummings still training in Australia next season. The brothers are fourth generation Group 1-winning trainers.
Anthony Cummings, the father of James and Edward, had his licence stripped by Racing NSW over the financial irregularities of his training business. He was forced to vacate Leilani Lodge, prompting the ATC’s tender process.
The Cummings family is no stranger to Hong Kong with Bart training a winner at Sha Tin when Catalan Opening won the Hong Kong Bowl in 1997. ∎
