Trekking ready to fulfil potential

The potential shown by Trekking in his juvenile campaign has earned him the distinction of being the first Godolphin Stakes runner for the season in Australia when he tackles the Listed Rosebud at Rosehill on Saturday.

And neither head trainer James Cummings nor his assistant Darren Beadman will be surprised if the son of Street Cry makes a successful start to the racing year.

“He showed nice, raw ability as a two-year-old and I loved the look of him in his first barrier trial,” Cummings said.

Trekking raced only three times in his juvenile year, winning on debut and finishing second in the G3 Black Opal Stakes in Canberra in March.

The level of natural ability possessed by the colt was clearly apparent and according to Beadman, he has retained every bit of it.

“We always liked him and he ended up being a Golden Slipper runner, but that race came a bit soon for him,” he said.

“He went nicely winning a barrier trial last month and he had a strong gallop in between races at Canterbury last week with another nice colt, Ataraxia.

“It was a good, strong gallop and it really tightened him up.”

Trekking is one of seven first-up runners in the eight-horse Rosebud field and will be ridden by Brenton Avdulla who also handled him in the Black Opal.

He will be accompanied at Rosehill by last season’s South Australian Derby runner-up Etymology (Corey Brown) who runs in the Spring Preview, Peacock (Blake Shinn) in a Benchmark 83 and Badajoz (Tye Angland) in a Benchmark 94, all of which are ungraded.

At Flemington, another Derby placegetter, Tally (Damian Lane), resumes in the ungraded McMenamin Handicap, beginning a campaign that is hoped will take him to the G1 Caulfield Cup, a race in which he earned automatic entry by winning last season’s Mornington Cup.