Trainer Anthony Cummings confirms El Castello will miss autumn carnival

Sydney trainer Anthony Cummings confirms minor injury problems have ruled star colt El Castello out of the autumn – and out of a mouth-watering Group 1 clash with Broadsiding.

El Castello wins the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on October 26. Picture: Jeremy Ng / Getty Images

El Castello, Sydney’s star staying colt, is out of the autumn carnival.

Trainer Anthony Cummings confirmed he has reluctantly decided to spell El Castello with the long-term aim of getting the horse ready for the $10 million Golden Eagle later in the year.

Cummings said El Castello’s injury problems were not major and he could have pressed on to the autumn but felt that would not be in the colt’s best interests.

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“El Castello is out of the autumn,’’ Cummings said. “We made that decision in the last week or so but he will be fine for the spring.

“There was nothing major, he had some bruising and needed a bit of ‘housekeeping’ if you like that has been taken care of. I guess you could see it is a bit of a hangover from his spring campaign.

“There are different ways of managing it and he could have raced in autumn but I didn’t think it would be fair to the horse, the owners and the public.

“We had to make the difficult decision to give him a break then we will have the right horse back for spring.’’

El Castello keeps on winning and is now a Group 1 winner! He takes the Spring Champion Stakes for @ACummingsRacing under @JoshuaParr8 🏆 pic.twitter.com/2qEtjFLnFa

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 26, 2024

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El Castello was expected to be a force in the autumn three-year-old classics and had been second favourite at $8 in early TAB Fixed Odds betting for the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas behind Godolphin’s Broadsiding at $3.

The Cummings-trained colt showed outstanding potential last spring when he reeled off four successive wins including the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m) and Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m).

Despite El Castello’s middle distance feature race wins, Cummings was convinced the horse would be suited at 1500m in a high pressure race like the $10 million Golden Eagle.

“I thought one of El Castello’s better runs during spring was his win second-up at a mile,’’ Cummings said.

“The way he was going about his work then without really having the penny drop speaks very well of his prospects around that trip.

“The Golden Eagle is the most lucrative quasi-mile race on the calendar so we would be silly not to go for that race.

“As much as the autumn is very attractive, with the Golden Eagle and other races he can make more money in the spring than autumn.’’

El Castello strings together three wins in a row and wins the G3 TAB Gloaming Stakes for Josh Parr and @ACummingsracing!@aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/yj5en5VxT3

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 12, 2024

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El Castello’s is the stable star at Cummings’ Leilani Lodge and the three-year-old’s absence from autumn is a body blow for the trainer who is already dealing with a “show cause” notice from Racing NSW after the trainer’s business, Rosscarbery Holdings, went into liquidation late last year.

Cummings has continued to train over summer as he waits to learn a date for his show cause hearing.

Originally published as Trainer Anthony Cummings confirms El Castello will miss autumn carnival