Broadsiding brilliant while Beiwacht makes a statement

James Cummings’ decision to stay in Sydney on Saturday, 22 February to witness Broadsiding return to racing was rewarded when the classy colt scored a stunning victory in the G2 Hobartville Stakes over 1,400m at Rosehill Gardens.

The triple G1-winner powered to the front in the home straight and was then throttled down by jockey Zac Lloyd to beat Swiftfalcon by a length, with Aeliana a half-neck away in third place.

The former champion Australian two-year-old’s sixth career victory came two races after his two-year-old stablemate Beiwacht scored a clear win in the G2 Silver Slipper Stakes over 1,100m under jockey Adam Hyeronimus.

The colt raced in second place to the home turn before accelerating away to beat West Of Swindon by 2.25 lengths, with Wodeton a short-neck away in third place.

Cummings was delighted with both performances, especially Broadsiding’s after a win-less, three-start campaign in Melbourne last spring.

“We're pretty excited about having him back and we've been confident all over the summer that he'd come back in good shape,” Cummings said.

“We thought it would be a matter of good luck for them beating him in a race like this, set weights, 1,400m at Rosehill.
“But I'd love to see him derive good benefit from this and build up nicely for the Randwick Guineas in a fortnight.”

Cummings praised Lloyd for positioning Broadsiding so well and riding so confidently in the home straight.

“Zac has just delivered, the pressure goes on him when James McDonald is in Saudi Arabia to ride the good horse Romantic Warrior,” he said.

“Zac has done a great job here on Broadsiding just like he did on Traffic Warden last year.


“It's good to see Zac rising to the level because he's had a big day here (five winners) and yet when the big race came around, he was still there to deliver.

“Really good for Zac, but very importantly for the team.

“Good to see these good colts turn up today and that bodes well for the autumn ahead for us.”
Broadsiding took his prize-money earnings to $3,284,975 and is now on target for the G1 Randwick Guineas over 1,600m on 8 March.

“Well, look, I wasn't mucking around with him. I ensured that he was ready to go in a race that he needed to get the rap back on him in a race like the Hobartville,” Cummings said.

“But that's important for him to have a really good baseline of fitness because that Randwick mile can be a testing one on a two-week turnaround and so he should be ready for that.

“He's a stylish winner of two big, two impressive 1600m wins at Randwick before and I think he's going to enjoy getting back there.
“But I love seeing the horse back like that, he's a smashing colt and yeah, it's going to be an exciting journey ahead for him.”

Lloyd, who will relinquish the Randwick Guineas ride to McDonald, said he was in awe of Broadsiding.

“He's very special, obviously, he's a very valuable colt to the team and yeah, he's getting better with age,” the young jockey said.

“Never in doubt, never in doubt, once he'd began like that.

“I had to give him a bit of a squeeze to just get in front of the runners underneath me, and once I got there, he just fell right back asleep.
“At the 500m, I just went through my gears, and he didn't really need it. He knows his job.”

Beiwacht showed improvement on his first two starts, breaking his maiden with an emphatic victory against some leading G1 Golden Slipper fancies.

“He was out of the frame on debut (seventh) but we chipped away, stuck to the plan, we didn't panic and it's a great testament to our team that we've been able to continue to get this horse to go the right way because he's got a lot of natural pace,” Cummings said.

“His debut was disastrous but it was just a bad set-up. 

“We stuck to the plan and I love that he's had that tough run. He loomed up on the inside last time (second) and he was better again coming into this race.
“He's got speed to burn and we just needed to calm him down, get him to do it right and that's what you get with a colt by Bivouac.

“He’s a fast horse out of a Street Cry mare who's already thrown a Group winner (Gravina).

“But this is a class animal and a month out from the Golden Slipper, that's a huge result.

“We’ll think about going to the Todman (Stakes).

“I think it's a matter of just deciding what's right for the horse, what's best for him. 

“He's a really classy horse, it's a huge result for Bivouac, and yeah it's just getting the timing right, which is essentially what it's all about.

Hyeronimus judged the pace beautifully on Beiwacht and the colt relaxed better and showed his true ability.

“Today, with the good speed, he jumped well, he was nice and relaxed in the first 100m, and I was able to take up a nice position outside the lead on a good speed,” Hyeronimus said.

“But he started to get quite strong before the turn because I was going so well and I didn't really want to go.

“But at the same time, I didn't want to break his stride so I just tried to hold on to him as much as I could and he showed a very sharp turn of foot.

“There's still a lot of improvement, as I said, he's still a very raw colt, and a couple little things he's doing, what he's doing is just pure ability.