This Grade 1 race, part of the Equinics racing series, does the old legend Bart Cummings proud\u2014dinkum legend who trained no less than TWELVE Melbourne Cup champs\u2026 13 Australian Cups, four Golden Slipper Stakes, and heaps more top races over 40-odd years. You\u2019d reckon Cummings was to Aussie racing what Babe Ruth was to American baseball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bob Charley, ex-chairman of the Australian Jockey Club, put it like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I were a horse, I\u2019d want Bart to train me. He doesn\u2019t boss \u2018em around; he gets inside their heads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, what\u2019s this Equinics thing? It\u2019s the Olympics of the sim racing world\u2014yeah nah, big deal. Each outfit in the residency can send one horse into each Equinics race, and there\u2019s a medal count just like the Olympics, plus a fair whack of bragging rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that the scene\u2019s set\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bart Cummings Trophy\u2019s runnin\u2019 at Perth, six furlongs on the dirt. Small pot on the line, but big braggin\u2019 rights!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m no racing historian, but reckon not many horses have been good enough, long enough to run in more\u2019n one Equinics event. Still, three of these rare blokes met two years back, with Relative Humor, Westward Mischief and PEC finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the 2024 Equinics Dirt Sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let\u2019s have a squiz at this bonza bunch…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BAHAMIAN COGNAC<\/strong> (15-1) represents the Florida Racing Club and is trained by socalslewmm<\/em>. The recently-gelded 4yo Bahamian Squall colt\u2019s 1 for 1 since getting snipped, going gate-to-wire in a restricted allowance. It\u2019s been a while since he fronted up in graded company, though he does have a G2 win. Needless to say, getting a win here\u2019d be a major upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Latinos Del Mundo residency called on the Haack <\/em>mob to send in their five-year-old Tapit son, EL CONGUERO MAYOR<\/strong> (5\/1). This galloper\u2019s banked seven-fifty in the kitty from 21 jumps, and among them a brace of graded-stakes wins. Last time out, he saluted in a small stakes at today\u2019s trip as a test of how he copes with a shorter distance, a test he nailed with flying colours. This flashy sort\u2019s fronting up against a stiffer mob here. A bonafide frontrunner thru most of his career, he flew home from far back to win that last start. Will he try that again here? With four expected speed types goin\u2019 at it here, it might be the play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Down Under Racing rep is Woette1<\/em>\u2019s WOETTE\u2019S SEA TIZZY<\/strong> (9\/2). This six-year-old Tiz The Law son is the busiest runner of the field, with 34 jumps under his belt. He\u2019s won 11 of those and over $800k. In five graded tries, he hasn\u2019t won but\u2019s been on the board in four. If the wet stuff rolls in, it\u2019 woulda been be a real bonza for this one. That 117 speed he showed when just-missing the Grade 1 Three Bender could well be spot-on if he can repeat that, but he\u2019ll have to do it on fast dirt today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ITCH MONSTER<\/strong>\u2019s a West Virginia-bred son of Monster Mash. The 5yo gelding\u2019s from the Roys<\/em> stables and represents the Northwest Racing Circuit. This is a tough gig for this stakes-placed winner of just $224k, and it\u2019s his graded-stakes debut. The 29\/1 odds reflect that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Orphans residency rep\u2019s a 4yo son of Zoustar who\u2019s already built one heck of a resume. In just 20 starts, POWERFUL STAR<\/strong>\u2019s snagged four graded stakes wins, including three Grade 1\u2019s, the Prince\u2019s Knight Stakes, the Sam Saves The Day stakes, and the recent Hanzo Sprint Cup. All of those were won gate-to-wire, and this Coolk<\/em> runner\u2019s shortening up here. On the downside, he faded late in his last, but at a furlong further. Ranked #2 on the Older Dirt Sprint rankings, he\u2019ll be a tough one, and he\u2019s off at 7\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the Kashbarn<\/em> mob comes the East-West Connection residency\u2019s rep, HOT JALAPENO<\/strong> (9\/1), fresh off winning the Grade 2 Bluegrass Sprint. That was the four-year-old Union Rags colt\u2019s first graded-stakes win after five cracks at the level. He\u2019ll be keen to jump out quick and try to lead the whole way. Good horse, but this is a big ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MANDFORD<\/strong> (17\/1), the Mecca residency rep, is trained by Alibilane2<\/em>, a substable of Oakridge Racing. He\u2019s the top earner from Kentucky sire Nashville. A late-closer in seven-furlong races, this four-year-old\u2019s only managed two wins from 15 starts, but he took out the G2 Saint Vincent last winter and\u2019s had a fair few near misses since, including a handy third in the Bluegrass Sprint in his last run on the Bluegrass Derby undercard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n STRATEGIC BOB<\/strong> (8\/1), from Ceres<\/em> Racing Stables, is the Universal Racing Stables\u2019 nominee. This five-year-old son of Maryland sire Baltimore Bob\u2019s had a fair bit on his plate in 2026, and this\u2019ll be his 11th run this year. A dyed-in-the-wool frontrunner, he\u2019ll have plenty of mates up front with him. If he can back up what he did a couple of starts back in the G3 Astroturf Sprint, he\u2019d have a decent crack at piling up some points for his residency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WESTWARD MISCHIEF<\/strong> (7\/1), has banked just under three mill. This is his second go at the Equinics rodeo, and he\u2019s no slouch\u2014five graded stakes wins, includin\u2019 the 2022 Breeders\u2019 Bowl Juvenile Sprint. The 6yo son should well be appreciatin\u2019 the chance to hear his feet rattlin\u2019 on the fast track way out West. From the Lbailey<\/em> stables, he bears the flag for Empire State Racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PEC<\/strong>\u2019s lookin\u2019 to bring some glory to the Elite Racing Club, aka ERC. This seven-year-old son of Malibu Moon\u2019s banked over two and a quarter mill in his 28-race career and sits at number three in the Older Dirt Sprint division. He rolls into this race after a fast-closin\u2019 second in the Grade 2 Due North Stakes, and he\u2019s got four Grade 1 trophies sittin\u2019 in the cabinet. His age might be a bit of a worry, and he could be even better if this race was six and a half furlongs. Even with those downsides, this Ric480<\/em> trainee\u2019s a real chance in this event\u2014he\u2019s got the experience for sure. Two years ago, he ran fourth in the Equinics Dirt Sprint, and goes at 6\/1 here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Empire State Racing\u2019s fronted up by a six-year-old son of Into Mischief called RELATIVE HUMOR<\/strong>, wearin\u2019 the colours for the MIDAS residency at 6\/1. This son of Uncle Mo\u2019s got $2.8 mill in the bank, a Grade 1 win, four Grade 2s, and a heap of near-misses. His trainer Dixiedotco<\/em> has kept him in good nick, and a strong late rush has seen him pile up the wins on the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Union Racing Association\u2019s rolled out OCEAN PRO<\/strong> (15\/1) from the LSUMark<\/em> stable. This top-rated Provacateur (NY) runner\u2019s well and truly left his sire\u2019s rep in the dust, snagging five stakes spoils, including two Grade 2\u2019s and a Grade 3. He\u2019s got a handy running style\u2014won the G3 Arizona Silver Spoon from deep back, but led or pressed the pace in all his other wins. This is a fair step up the class ladder, but maybe not out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018reckon this Equinics race is a real stinker to pick\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll just put me neck on the line and back POWERFUL STAR<\/strong> to see out the scorcher early splits and hold on at the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PEC<\/strong>, makin\u2019 the most of the burn-up, sneaks home for 2nd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WESTWARD MISCHIEF<\/strong> clings on for 3rd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have a g\u2019day at Perth! This Grade 1 race, part of the Equinics racing series, does the old legend Bart Cummings proud\u2014dinkum legend who trained<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":247,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/247"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76083"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76089,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76083\/revisions\/76089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
(And guard yer pockets from the Perth snatchers\u2026)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"