BART Cummings would have been there at the wedding on Tuesday but for the tyranny of distance.
"Italy is too far for me to go these days," the racing legend said.
Bart Cummings
It was a union of two great racing families - the Cummings clan are fourth generation trainers while Monica is the grand-daughter of Eduardo Cojuangco, the Filipino businessman and principal of Gooree Stud who has raced horses with considerable success in this country for five decades.
So did Bart, who has been married to his life partner, Valerie, for 60 years, have any advice for his grandson?
The Hall of Fame trainer must have found the question amusing because he burst into laughter before replying: "What advice can I give James - well, you can’t put an old head on young shoulders," Cummings said.
"But I would tell him to be kind and be caring and it should work out OK. I wish them both all the best."
Cummings’s grandson, James, married his sweetheart Monica Barrera in Italy on Tuesday this week.
Cummings and his grandson have been in a training partnership of their own for nearly 12 months now. There has been some ups and downs along the way but the pair are getting results.
As co-trainers, Bart and James have prepared the winners of 42 races and more than $2.3 million prizemoney this season.
"We’ve have a good first season," Bart continued.
"You can’t do it without the horses and James has had a heap of good horses offered to him and we’ve said we’ll take them on."
But it is typical Bart to be looking ahead to tomorrow and the future. He is not the type to reflect for long on past achievements.
"You can’t live in the past," he said. "Got to plan ahead - there’s plenty to look forward to."
This is Bart’s time of year, a period of the racing season where he has had so much success winning 12 Melbourne Cups, 7 Caulfield Cups, 5 Cox Plates, 11 Mackinnon Stakes - his training record is quite simply extraordinary. With the new season less than four weeks away, which horses do Bart and James Cummings have that could make an impact during the coming spring carnival?
Bart paused for a moment, conceded he may not have another Melbourne Cup winner this year but quickly added there was enough talent at Leilani Lodge to give their training partnership a breakthrough Group 1 success and add to his career tally of 266 majors.
Cummings nominated comeback mare Norzita, promising filly Shamalia and unbeaten youngster Hallowed Crown as the stable’s big hopes for the new season.
Norzita suffered a tendon injury after finishing third in the Show County Quality at Warwick Farm 11 months ago but the rising five-year-old mare has completed her rehabilitation and is pleasing the stable as she prepares for a return to racing in the new season.
A dual Group 1 winner, Norzita will be aimed at the major weight-for-age races including the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley this spring.
"She’s a good mare," Bart said. "We have given her plenty of time, which you need to do, and the leg looks good."
Shamalia
Shamalia won three of her six starts including the Listed Fireball Stakes in her debut preparation and could emerge as an Epsom Handicap contender this spring.
Hallowed Crown, who is raced by Cojuangco’s Gooree Stud, won his only two starts including the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes and this colt could be set for races like the Golden Rose and Caulfield Guineas.
"He’s a nice horse, goes OK," the maestro said of Hallowed Crown.
"Gooree has sent some of their mares to good stallions and it has worked."
Bart is rising 87 in November and he doesn’t go to the Randwick stables or trackwork very often these days. He’s mainly based at his home at Princes Farm in Castlereagh, near Penrith in western Sydney.It’s a picturesque property nestled on the banks of the Nepean River with the Blue Mountains as a backdrop.
"Lovely out here" the trainer said. "Bit cool in the mornings but very peaceful. The horses love it, too."
Princess Farm
This is where Bart keeps a handle on the stable’s runners and training programs. Many of their gallopers spell at Princes Farm or return there to do some pre-training before going into full work at Randwick.
"They all go through here at various times," Bart said.
"I’m happy to stay at the farm most of the time, I can see them in pre-training and the young horses when they get broken in."
Cummings relies on his grandson and stable staff to keep him updated about trackwork each day.
"It’s as good as being there," he added.
The nation’s most famous octogenarian never misses a race, either.
"The TV is the go, I can watch them all day," he said.
But just because Cummings is rarely seen at race meetings these days, don’t for a second think he isn’t up to speed on racing’s big issues. Cummings was in a talkative mood when The Daily Telegraph rang earlier this week and he wanted to switch the focus from his stable’s spring carnival ambitions to what he believed were more pressing matters.
"What’s happening with The Championships?" he asked.
I told him Racing NSW officials were having ongoing discussions with the NSW Government about funding, and in particular, wagering taxation parity, but Cummings was already across the topic.
Cummings said the state government must address the tax issue and provide the NSW racing industry with a level playing field.
"The other states are better off, why is that?" Cummings said in his usual matter-of-fact way.
"If that is the case, it is a disgrace. I hope (Racing NSW chief executive) V’landys can put a stop to it.
"This is racing industry money. The Government should fix it up."
Although Bart and James did not win a major at the inaugural The Championships earlier this year, the champion trainer believes the concept is a winner.
"The prizemoney is good and all I can say is that we should continue to have it," he said.
Cummings has often criticised the "favourable treatment" given to the northern hemisphere raiders in the Melbourne Cup each year but he clarified his position on international competition, particularly for The Championships.
"I reckon more should come, it doesn’t do any harm," he continued. "You blokes (press) get plenty to talk about when they are here so that is good for racing.
"We usually beat them anyway - if they don’t come next year they are frightened of us."
This was vintage Cummings now, he was on a roll. One of his favourite topics - and pet hates - is the overemphasis on sprint races.
In a week where the nation’s longest flat race, the 3800m Riverina Cup was won by Archibar at Wagga Wagga, and the 3200m Queensland Cup will be run at Eagle Farm on Saturday, Cummings was adamant race clubs should do more to promote and encourage stayers.
"I think there should be a 2000m race and a 2400m run every couple of weeks or so," he said.
"Then the country went mad on sprinters when the Golden Slipper was introduced (1957).
"Before that, when I first started training, there was only five races run over five furlongs (1000m) on the eastern seaboard each year. Now there is one every day - it is over the top, absolutely ridiculous."
European racing still has its emphasis on the classic races like the English Derby (2400m) and staying events remain the most prestigious but Bart was quick to add that Australian racing was still superior.
"Our racing is better than in Europe," Cummings said of European racing. "Too many bookmakers, there.
"The best racing is in Japan and Hong Kong. They have the best prizemoney in the world and they have no bookmakers.
"The TAB is where we get most of our (racing industry funding) money from and if we look at Japan and Hong Kong, why can’t we do the same.
"There is a pattern there for us to follow."
Cummings has had his health issues in recent years but the racing great was in fine form this week.
"Except I’ve got sore eyes," he said.
"When I was a young fella, I should have worn a hat but I didn’t. So, my eyes have a bit of sun damage now and I have to wear sunglasses.
"But I’m not too bad, life’s pretty good."
Story Courtesy RAY THOMAS - THE DAILY TELEGRAPH - 10:00PM JULY 03, 2014
James and Monica are currently on their honeymoon and will be back in a couple of weeks ready to attack the Spring carnival.
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