The Group One Australian Guineas and Australian Cup are in the sights of trainer Anthony Cummings with the three-year-old Thunder Fantasy.
Cummings turned his attention to two of the best races of the Melbourne autumn carnival after Thunder Fantasy posted a first-up win in the Autumn Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.
Thunder Fantasy - Photo by Sarah Ebbett
The Group Two race is a recognised autumn starting point for three-year-olds but it had high-profile withdrawal with Victoria Derby winner Polanski scratched because of a skin infection.
Thunder Fantasy ($7) finished third to Polanski in the Derby last spring and showed his sharpness over the 1400m, sitting third before sprinting clear to defeat favourite Rock Hero ($3.30) by 1-3/4 lengths with a short neck to Late Charge ($6) third.
“We were pretty confident today,” Cummings’s Melbourne stable representative Dan Williams said.
Thunder Fantasy could head into the Group One Australian Guineas (1600m) on March 1 without another run because the Australian Cup (2000m) against older horses a week later is also on the agenda.
“We’re going to go to the Australian Cup if all goes well. And the Australian Guineas,” Williams said.
Cummings went close to winning last year’s Australian Cup with three-year-old Fiveandahalfstar.
