Cummings: Duais’ Caulfield Cup hopes are far from shot

[Wandering Eyes]

Josh Parr celebrates winning the Tancred Stakes aboard Duais at Newcastle on March 28. Picture: Steve Hart.

Don’t give up on Duais for the Caulfield Cup on Saturday.

That was trainer Ed Cummings’ message to punters regarding the $11 winning chance with Neds.

Cummings’ high opinion of his five-year-old mare has not dropped, despite finishing eighth in the Turnbull Stakes last start on October 1.

And the Sydney conditioner was pleased with the work his star stayer produced on Tuesday under her jockey, Josh Parr.

Duais finished 10th in the Memsie Stakes on August 27 – her last start at Caulfield.

“Nice, easy work. She just needed to familiarise herself with the course once again after being away for about six weeks,” Cummings told racing.com.

“And it was another good opportunity for Josh to steer her around.

“He was quite pleased with how she just wanted to prick her ears once she saw the winning post.

“We wanted to do a little bit more, but we know we’ve got her in the right place for Saturday.

“It was just another opportunity for her to get out on the track.”

Duais hasn’t quite reached the same heights of her Australian Cup and Tancred Stakes victories, both at Group 1 level back in March.

This preparation she has finished 10th, sixth and eighth in the Memsie, George Main and Turnbull Stakes.

But Cummings’ high opinion of his stayer with $2.77 million in prizemoney to her name has not dimmed.

I was (happy with her Turnbull Stakes run). I think her finishing splits were even a bit better than her Australian Cup run,” he said.

“The nature of the race, and a few other conditions around the race, made it a bit difficult for her to be the winning chance that we had hoped she’d be.

“The pace was fairly sedate. As soon as we get into a race with a bit of pressure, I think she’ll be right in the thick of things.”

Cummings said the Caulfield Cup, rather than the Cox Plate next Saturday, would give Duais the ideal preparation for her shot at the Melbourne Cup on November 1.

“I just felt like she wants ground. And that’s been the feedback. She has been a horse who’s done well with a greater space between runs,” he said.

“With a view to the Melbourne Cup as well, I felt like the slightly more than two weeks to that race would give us a few options as to how much work we need to do with her, if any at all.

“She’s a fairly fine mare now, and she can hold her form quite well without doing too much work.

“So she’s in a really happy place at the moment. The aim at the start of the preparation was to get her to Caulfield Cup Day with a smile on her face.

“And I’m pretty pleased that we’re able to do that.”

Like Duais’ current form, Cummings has not read too much into her 16th place in last year’s Caulfield Cup.

“She’s smarter, more mature. She really knows her job. It’s also difficult for me to compare, too, because I wasn’t able to be in Melbourne last year due to COVID,” he said.

“She performed quite well on the Wednesday in the Coongy (winning that Group 3 race over 2000m). And we probably didn’t quite have her in the right spots in that race.

“Albeit, I don’t think any horse on the planet would’ve beaten Incentivise (in last year’s Caulfield Cup).

“We’re certainly glad he’s not here this year. I think she’s a really strong chance this year in comparison to last year.

“And we’ve had a preparation that’s been about building for a race like this.”

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