Encryption has history on his side in G1 Sires’ Produce

A strong family tradition will support the undeniable ability possessed by Encryption when he runs in Saturday’s G1 Sires Produce Stakes at Randwick.

Encryption (Glyn Schofield) showed he had found his best form at the right time when he won the G3 Black Opal Stakes in Canberra three weeks ago and the colt has pleased trainer James Cummings since.

And if pedigrees are any recommendation, the colt has excellent prospects.

Encryption is a son of Guelph, an outstanding filly raced in Australia by Sheikh Mohammed, who won both the Sires’ Produce and the G1 Champagne Stakes in her juvenile year of 2013, returning as a three-year-old to win the G1 Flight Stakes and G1 Thousand Guineas.

Guelph’s mother, Camarilla, also won the Sires’ Produce while granddam Camarena was a G1 winner of the Queensland Derby.

The family history is significant in the mind of trainer James Cummings.

“This is the sort of race he can be competitive in and it would be fitting to see him go well in a race his mother and his granddam both won,” Cummings said.

“As Guelph’s first foal, he would be making her stocks pretty valuable if he could win a race like this.”

Cummings deliberately skipped the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes with Encryption to give the colt time to recover from his Black Opal win and to develop.

“Encryption is going really well coming into this race,” the trainer said.

“We’ve been happy with how he’s gone ahead since winning the Black Opal in Canberra a few weeks ago and he has a wonderful nature about him and just seems to absorb the training he’s been given.

“He’s trained on strongly and he looks set to run extremely well this weekend.”

Before his Canberra win, Encryption had been placed at three of his four starts, all in Melbourne, making it reasonable to assume he can improve after his first run on a right-handed track.

Other leading Sires’ contenders include the Golden Slipper runner-up Oohood and the Victorian colts Long Leaf and Not A Single Cent.