Derby destiny – Godolphin on brink of turning blue blood into Classic glory

James Cummings once called it a curse.

An oddity on Godolphin’s otherwise all-encompassing presence on the honour boards of Australia’s best races that not even someone with Cummings’ pedigree could put right.

It is a pattern that has defined Goldolphin’s presence in the two richest Derbies on offer in Australian racing: always there and invariably competitive without getting the right result.

Cummings’s great-grandfather trained a Victoria Derby winner, his grandfather Bart collected five and his father Anthony triumphed in 2012.

Almost a decade ago, Cummings became a fourth-generation trainer to claim one of the jewels of the spring when Prized Icon won the race that was first run in 1855, making it older than the Melbourne Cup.

Yet not even his arrival at the helm of Godolphin’s Australian string with his heralded lineage in the following season could lift the spell that has been cast over Sheikh Mohammed’s bid for Victoria Derby and ATC Australian Derby success.

Abroad, there was also an oddly familiar tale. Masar ended a long wait for Godolphin’s Epsom Derby success in 2018 and Sovereignty did the same with a Kentucky Derby breakthrough this year. 

Cummings trained 48 Group 1 winners for Godolphin but a Derby in Sydney and Melbourne was elusive to the point of frustration.

He came close with Etamology and Alegron runners-up in the Victoria Derby and Astoria filling a minor placing.

Alegron’s quest for redemption in the ATC Australian Derby came up short against his Flemington conqueror when third to Hitotsu at Randwick.

Since 2010, horses under the Godolphin and Darley banners have figured in the Victoria Derby and Australian Derby minor placings 12 times under four different trainers.

Cummings departed the Godolphin scene at the start of the season, leaving a pursuit for success in our major Classics in the hands of a cohort of trainers operating under a new model for the global thoroughbred behemoth. 

While it’s early days, the move has been seamless and an unqualified success with Group 1 wins in the Golden Rose and Spring Champion Stakes alleviating any concern about ending a long-term private retainer relationship.

It augers well for Godolphin consigning its Victoria Derby anomaly to the past with two blue-chip chances in the $2 million race at Flemington on Saturday.

Godolphin’s history of near-misses adds an extra layer of intrigue surrounding the claims of the favourite Observer and its secondary runner Options.

As a luckless Caulfield Guineas placegetter and a last-start winner at Moonee Valley, Observer brings both form and pedigree to the race.

Observer’s standing as one of the warmest Derby favourites of the modern era is backed with formidable bloodlines from both hemispheres.

His sire is the 2020 European Horse of the Year Ghaiyyath, while a colonial breeding influence is carried on Observer’s maternal side.

The colt has direct family links to Pierro as the third foal of a sister to the champion two-year-old who now stands at stud at global rival Coolmore.

In an industry where scale and numbers are crucial for breeding conglomerates with international interests, Pierro remains to this day the one that got away from Darley.

Pierro was sold by Darley as a weanling and later resold as a yearling before finding his way into Gai Waterhouse’s stable.

At the risk of reopening old wounds, Pierro turned out to be the champion two-year-old and a highly valuable stallion prospect.

He marched to an unbeaten first-term record that annexed Sydney’s three juvenile Group 1 races – the Golden Slipper, the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Champagne Stakes – before retiring to stand at Coolmore in 2013 in a reported $40 million stallion deal.

If it remains a case of unfinished business for Darley and Godolphin, it will be up to Observer and his trainer Ciaron Maher to get the job done at Flemington.

Maher, who also trains the brilliant three-year-old filly Tempted for Godolphin, says Observer has all the attributes to be a Derby winner.

“Observer is very athletic, he’s got a beautiful action and attitude,” he told the Godolphin website.

“As we saw in the Guineas, he was quite unlucky over the last two furlongs, so you never know what might have been there.

“Last Saturday, out to the 10 furlongs (in the Moonee Valley Vase), he was very dominant and the plan has always been the Derby.”

🇦🇺 #Observer (Ghaiyyath 3 c), victorious in the G2 Vase over 2,040m at Moonee Valley. https://t.co/nP8pLqLwoq

— Godolphin (@godolphin) October 25, 2025

Options, from the Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable, presents in the Derby as a worthy second-stringer for Godolphin.

A winner of the Super Impose Stakes at Listed level, Options encountered traffic issues behind Observer last week before working home in a manner that suggests the Derby distance won’t be an issue.

He is a son of Impending, who now plies his trade at Larneuk Stud in Victoria, out of a mare by Epsom Derby winner New Approach. She features two Oaks winners, Dizelle and Pinot, close up in her pedigree. 

The Derby adds to the sense of occasion at Flemington in a new era for Godolphin, as the ranks of its three-year-olds are overflowing with talent.

The Chris Waller-trained Beiwacht and Anthony and Sam Freedman-prepared Tentyris are fighting out favouritism for the $2 million Coolmore Stud Stakes.

And while the Coolmore doesn’t have the historical significance of the Derby, commercially, it will be the most important race run in Australia on Saturday as it sets an agenda for the next generation of stallions.

For Godolphin, while winning the Coolmore will be good business, a Derby victory might be one that will be treasured the most.