Montaigne has come through his second in the Rosehill Guineas in such good order, trainer Anthony Cummings is seriously considering backing him up in the BMW.
And while he knows it’s a big leap from three-year-old company to Saturday’s weight-for-age feature, there is one advantage.
“There’s no Tarzino in the BMW,” Cummings said.
Montaigne
“The BMW is as good an option as the Derby but running in it would not necessarily rule the Derby out.
“All things are possible.
“It really depends on him but he has come out of the race as well as he ever has.”
Tarzino beat Montaigne by 1-3/4 lengths in Saturday’s Guineas (2000m) to cement his claims as the short-priced favourite to add the Australian Derby (2400m) on April 2 to his Victoria Derby.
Cummings has gone as far as to book Damien Oliver to ride Montaigne who is one of 12 entries for the BMW (2400m) at Rosehill.
The last three-year-old to win the BMW was the Cummings-trained Fiveandahalfstar in 2013 but he was vastly more experienced having also won the Victoria Derby the previous spring.
If he runs on Saturday, Montaigne’s likely opponents include Group One winners Grand Marshal, Mongolian Khan, Preferment, Rising Romance and Who Shot Thebarman.
The TAB is wary of Montaigne with the three-year-old on the fourth line of its first market at $8 behind Preferment ($3.50), Our Ivanhowe ($4.60) and Mongolian Khan ($6).
Entries have been left open until Tuesday morning.
Cummings is being a little more ambitious by entering Sunday’s Wyong winner Aurora’s Star in Saturday’s other Group One race, the Vinery Stud Stakes for fillies.
“I don’t think she’ll get in so the Adrian Knox Stakes the following week is the more likely race to get her into the Oaks,” he said.
