Eurozone will get his chance at a milestone Group One win for Bart and James Cummings in Saturday’s CF Orr Stakes.
Eurozone was taken to Caulfield for a solo course proper gallop on Tuesday morning with Damien Oliver aboard and co-trainer James Cummings is happy to let the colt chase a value-boosting Group One win.
The three-year-old is also entered for the Group Two Autumn Stakes against his own age.
“I think we’ll go to the Orr,” James Cummings said.
“I’ve got to speak to the owners and we’re going to have a good chat about it. All I can tell the owners is that this horse is fit and very well, he looks a million dollars so let’s turn him into a million-dollar colt.”
Bart and James Cummings formed a training union in August and Eurozone was the partnership’s first stakes winner when he claimed the Listed Rosebud Quality.
He will be the partnership’s first Group One winner if successful on Saturday and the first big-race winner from the team’s new on-course stable complex at Flemington.
Cummings said he wanted Eurozone, winner of four of his six starts in Sydney, to get experience at Caulfield on Tuesday to maximise his first-up chances.
“I took him to the course proper because Caulfield is just a graveyard for Sydney horses having their first start there,” Cummings said.
He said whether the plan worked remained to be seen on Saturday but felt the son of Northern Meteor would have learned a lot from his look around the track.
“This is a very important race for this horse and I can see that as only being a benefit to us to leave no stone unturned to ensure he gets there ready to fire first-up,” Cummings said.
The weight-for-age CF Orr (1400m) is already set to feature Cox Plate-winning three-year-old Shamus Award and Victoria Derby winner Polanski.
The now-retired All Too Hard won the race as a three-year-old last year.
