Viridine matched the best piece of trackwork in James Cummings’s short time at Godolphin with an unextended win in the Roman Consul Stakes at Randwick.
“I watched him on Tuesday and in three months training (at Godolphin) I haven’t seen a horse work better than that,” Cummings said.
Making it four wins from as many starts in the Group Two race on Saturday, Viridine put himself in the frame for the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes with a two-length win over Single Bullet and stablemate Beau Geste.
But the $2.20 favourite didn’t make it easy on himself or for jockey Brenton Avdulla as he over-raced, spending unnecessary energy.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a horse pull that hard at Randwick and still put them away with so much ease over the concluding stages,” Cummings said.
“I’d imagine anyone looking at that would agree he’s a pretty exciting animal.
“Sheikh Mohammed’s got a very, very good prospect here.”
Cummings said Viridine had room for improvement heading towards the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on November 4.
“He wasn’t wound right up today, it’s all a game to him. He’s just got so much speed within himself,” Cummings said.
Avdulla, who brought up a winning treble on Viridine, said the colt had to learn how to relax in his races.
“He didn’t give himself much of a breather and I didn’t have much of a breather riding him,” Avdulla said.
