Impending ready to take the next step

Godolphin’s G1 Stradbroke Handicap winner Impending resumes to racing at Randwick on Saturday supported by the confidence that he can take his already impressive career to a new level.

Impending (Hugh Bowman) runs in the Listed Sydney Stakes, an event billed as the “consolation” to the world’s richest turf race, the A$10 million The Everest which is on the same card.

While trainer James Cummings is taking a conservative view of Impending’s first-up prospects, he is expecting to see signs that the colt is capable of mixing it on level terms with the country’s best sprinters later in his campaign.

“Having won a G1 handicap with the limit weight, he needs to take a step up to weight-for-age now,” Cummings said.

“He mixed it with some good ones in his last campaign and he looks like he’ll really enjoy being back at Randwick on a dry track for this opportunity to go to another level.

"He’s a beautifully bred horse and a really important colt later on for Darley stallions, so we’ll keep building his profile.

Impending is by Lonhro from Mnemosyne, winner of the G1 Thousand Guineas and the G1 Queen of the Turf Stakes.

Cummings expects Impending to run well in the Sydney Stakes, but to be even better as his preparation progresses.

“Even though he won on debut as a two-year-old, he’s typically taken time to ease into his preparations since then,” he said.

“He’s a four-year-old colt now, so he’ll take some racing, but he’s improved dramatically since his second trial. He looks to have muscled up really well since his break.

“It’s very important that he runs a really positive race first up, and while there’s still some improvement to come, it looks like he’s ready to run very well.”

Among Impending’s major targets this spring is the G1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley in Melbourne later this month.