As James Cummings’ tenure with Godolphin enters its final phase, winning races is still high on the agenda.
The Byerley Handicap (1800m) at Flemington is a contest the Godolphin team would like to win and it’s a race that could set up Bayou Music for a tilt at a spring campaign for whichever stable the colt heads to after Saturday’s outing.
Cummings and Godolphin part ways at season’s end, July 31, with nine trainers set to take over the training of the ‘Blue Army’ in Australia.
The Byerley Handicap provides the winner with a ballot exemption into either the Victoria Derby (2500m) or the VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington during Melbourne Cup week.
Cummings and Godolphin won the Byerley in 2020 with Alcyone, and while that gelding did not make it to the Derby, he did defeat the subsequent winner of the Classic, Johnny Get Angry at Flemington three months earlier.
Nacim Dilmi, Cummings’ assistant trainer at Flemington, said Saturday’s race came on the radar for Bayou Music after the colt was successful over 1500m at Bendigo on June 14.
That victory came at start number three for Bayou Magic following placings at his first two starts at Mornington and Pakenham.
But Byerley Handicap aspirations looked done and dusted when Bayou Music finished fourth in the Listed Taj Rossi Series Final (1600m) at Flemington on July 5.
But a follow up discussion with Jamie Melham said the run was better than it appeared.
“After his win at Bendigo, we thought the further he went the more he would improve, and that was also showing in the way he was working at home,” Dilmi said.
“But the way he ran at Flemington last time was only fair. It was his first time on a very big track and Jamie said he was stargazing a little bit.
“It probably looked like he wouldn’t go 1800 metres after that mile race, but Jamie said after the line he just kept on going.
“Now he’s had a good look at the track, hopefully it will help him on Saturday, so we thought we can give him one more go, and Jamie sticks with him.”
Dilmi said the colt needed time early in his two-year-old year and was still mentally immature but should develop into a nice three-year-old.
