FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: THE CUMMINGS BRAND CHANGES COURSE AS JAMES JOINS GODOLPHIN

By John Schreck | Wednesday, May 24, 2017

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Schreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

Let me preface my comments this week by saying that, along with everybody else in the racing game, I sincerely hope that James Cummings’ acceptance of an offer to train for Godolphin works out well for him.

Having said that, the decision that he has taken does surprise me a little considering the connections Cummings already has in the industry, the support he has had from current owners and the sound position he was in prior to the Godolphin approach.

In a very short space of time Cummings has clearly shown he can train racehorses. It would be surprising if he couldn’t, of course, given the grounding he has had with his grandfather and with father, but he has also clearly put in the hard yards to get where he is and reach the point where Godolphin targeted him following John O’Shea’s departure.

Obviously Godolphin has made it attractive for him but, weighed against the obvious benefits, is the fact that it is obviously a helluva difficult job to train for an organisation of the scope of Godolphin.

Cummings will be under a lot of pressure to perform. He has got hierarchy overseas to please and hierarchy in Australia to please ... and he will have long days ... so, while on the face of it it does seem a terrific job, he’ll have plenty of sleepless nights, I reckon.

All of these things would have gone through Cummings’ head of course and he would have talked about it with his family and his wife before making such a decision.

Whatever the devil in the details might turn out to be ... or whether it is just smooth sailing ... this move does mark the start of a new and exciting chapter in James Cummings’ career.

I do wish him well.

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The recent announcement of a prize-money increase in Victoria took the total prize-money pool for the up-coming season in that state past $200 million for the first time.

Following the prize-money increases that took place last year in New South Wales ... and also the way The Everest has been programmed in Sydney ... I guess Victoria’s announcement was to be expected.

It does seem to me as if it is coming down to a stakes battle between New South Wales and Victoria ... which is regrettable.

Racing Victoria has tried to play down that particular story line preferring to simply say that the increased prize-money allocation came after a ‘strategic prize money review.’

They would have given it a lot of thought of course but that is a lot of money to be finding for stake-money.

You have got to remember that there is a lot going on in Victoria at the moment.

The Victoria Racing Club is spending millions on a new grand stand, they are busy sorting out their chief executive position and then there is Racing Victoria itself who is in the process of having a new Board appointed by the government.

When there is a lot going on I think it would be best to tread carefully.

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The national racing scene will be focussed on Eagle Farm on Saturday.

The trials and tribulations of the ‘new’ Eagle Farm track have been well documented but I, along with all of those who are interested in racing, hope that things go well for the Brisbane Racing Club on Saturday and that the track works out well on the day.

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