Broadsiding’s victory on Saturday was not only his trainer’s third Golden Rose success, it represented James Cummings’ 50th Group 1 win overall, something only 14 trainers in Australian history have achieved. This week’s Run The Numbers breaks down the trainer’s stats in elite races.
James Cummings is only 36 years old and has already claimed his 50th Group 1 victory as a trainer, 48 under his own name and two in partnership with his legendary grandfather Bart.
To give the achievement some context, Bart Cummings didn’t train his first of his 12 Melbourne Cup winners until he was 38. His 50th Group 1 winner came in the 1973 Golden Slipper, aged 45.
At the same age as James Cummings is now, 36 and eight months, Chris Waller’s career was just gathering steam, he had eight Group 1s to his name. His 50th Group 1 success came when he was 42.
Ciaron Maher had 10 Group 1 wins by the same age and, now 43, he is yet to make 50 elite wins, having celebrated number 47 (including those in partnership with David Eustace) thanks to Southport Tycoon in the Manikato Stakes on Friday night.
Even David Hayes, with the wonderful start he had to his career in the 1990s, only had 32 Group 1s in Australia by the time he turned 37. He would be 45 by the time he trained 50 Group 1 winners, the same age as Peter Moody reached that milestone.
Gai Waterhouse was 48 when she celebrated her 50th Group 1 winner, her father Tommy Smith, who holds the record with Bart Cummings for overall Group 1 victories on 246, was a day shy of his 46th birthday, while John Hawkes was 52. The only trainer we could find who reached 50 Group 1 wins by 40 was Lee Freedman, who was 38 when he clocked that milestone in 1994.
James Cummings’ Group 1 winners by season
*in partnership
Cummings’ association with Godolphin has been a massive advantage, with 46 of those Group 1 victories coming in the all-blue of Sheikh Mohammed.
However, when you consider he has only had the 10th most runners of all trainers in Australia this season, it is not the numerical advantage it once was. He has had less than a quarter of the runners that Maher has this season (117 compared to 478).
In fact, Cummings only has 18 wins this season overall, putting him 14th on the national premiership, which is headed by Maher on 69 and Waller and the hayes brothers on 59.
Breaking down Cummings’ 50 Group 1 victories reveals some interesting trends. Those races have been won by 25 individual horses, with the most, nine, won by Anamoe, followed by Cascadian on four. Broadsiding now joins Avilius, Alizee and Bivouac on three Group 1 wins apiece.
Until Broadsiding, Cummings had never had a horse that had won three Group 1 races at such an early stage of its career.
He has now trained the Golden Rose winner three times in his career, making it equal with the Newmarket Handicap in terms of his success. His first-ever Group 1 win was in the Golden Rose in 2014 in partnership with Bart thanks to Hallowed Crown, his second Golden Rose win was with Bivouac in 2019, which was Cummings’ 21st elite win.
Over half of his Group 1 wins - 26 to be exact - have been in Sydney, 19 in Melbourne, three in Queensland and one in each of South Australia and Western Australia.
Significantly for Godolphin’s stallion arm Darley, 10 of Cummings 25 individual Group 1 winners have gone onto stud, headlined of course by Anamoe. Six of the current Darley Australia roster won Group 1s under Cummings, with Broadsiding seemingly destined to join them.
James McDonald leads the way when it comes to the most successful Group 1-winning jockey for Cummings, with 16 victories. Hugh Bowman is second on seven, followed by Glyn Schofield on five. There have been 14 individual jockeys who have ridden Group 1 victories for James Cummings.
Most successful G1 jockeys for James Cummings
The age breakdown of Cummings’ Group 1 victories is another interesting way to look at his success.
He has won six two-year-old Group 1 races, 16 Group 1 races for three-year-olds and 28 open age Group 1 races. Of those open age races, only four were won by three-year-olds.
His best strike rate in Group 1 races is with his two-year-olds at 15.6 per cent.
A quick analysis of the distance of Group 1 races which Cummings has won shows you his horses have a sweet spot at 1400 metres to 1600 metres. Over half, 28, of Cummings’ Group 1 wins have been in this distance range - 17 over the mile, 10 over 1400 metres and one over 1500 metres.
That 56 per cent figure is an overrepresentation when you consider only 40.5 per cent of Australian Group 1 races are staged between 1400 metres and 1600 metres.
Broadsiding, who has won his past five starts in that distance range, looks highly likely to increase that record when he heads to the Caulfield Guineas as an odds-on favourite in two weeks’ time.
James Cummings - Group 1 wins by distance
