Beau Geste and Viridine the ones to beat in Roman Consul

A pair of classy Godolphin three-year-old sprinters are bidding to have their names included on an illustrious honour roll in the G2 Roman Consul Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.

Beau Geste (Kerrin McEvoy) and Viridine (Brenton Avdulla) have impeccable form to recommend them in a race whose winning list includes the Godolphin runner Exosphere, along with fellow Darley stallions Brazen Beau and Exceed And Excel.

Trainer James Cummings says both colts have the form and the ability to be among the leading prospects.

“Beau Geste comes into this off a last start win with a big weight. I think the horse performed admirably with the tempo of the race against him,” he said.

“He’s been a slow-maturing sprinting type who seems to be coming into his own now.

“Physically he’s growing stronger the deeper we get into the spring and I feel he’s going ahead enough to be competitive.”

While Beau Geste has won two of his three starts, Viridine comes to Saturday’s race with a three-from-three record and a lot of stable confidence.

“We’ve given him an extra week to get over his strong first up win where he wanted to overdo it a bit in the Heritage Stakes,” Cummings said.

“He’d shown dramatic improvement in the final month before his first up run, to such an extent that he was able to win impressively when he was a little big in condition.

“Since then he’s gone ahead again, the only thing I could say is that he may have worked too well in the lead-up to this race.

“He’s an impressive three-year-old with an enviable record and if there’s more to come, then we have a lot to look forward to.”