The remarkable history of Leilani Lodge stables at Randwick as Anthony Cummings departs

Leilani Lodge, part of the Cummings family training dynasty for 45 years, is poised for its final chapter this week as Anthony Cummings departs the famous High St stables.

Trainer Anthony Cummings (top left) and his late father, the legendary Bart Cummings, at Leilani Lodge.

Leilani Lodge, the famous Royal Randwick racing stables, has been synonymous with the Cummings family for five decades.

The late, great Bart Cummings, an original Hall of Fame inductee, set up the stables when he moved his training base to Sydney in the early 1980s.

The legendary trainer prepared some of his greatest champions out of Leilani Lodge on High Street including So You Think, Saintly, Shaftesbury Avenue, Beau Zam, Sky Chase, Campaign King, Dane Ripper and others.

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Anthony Cummings worked alongside his father as stable foreman before taking out a trainer’s licence 25 years ago.

He has then forged his own successful training career preparing over 1000 winners including 24 at Group 1 level.

After Bart passed in 2015, Anthony’s son, James, was based at Leilani Lodge for a period until he was lured to take over as private trainer for global racing and breeding giant, Godolphin.

The late, great Bart Cummings celebrates his 80th Birthday at Leilani Lodge, Randwick.

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Anthony Cummings moved back into Leilani Lodge and then formed a training partnership with his other son, Edward.

After Edward branched out on his own in 2019 and established his training business at Hawkesbury, his father continued to train out of Leilani Lodge.

But Australia’s most famous racing dynasty could soon be out of Leilani Lodge with Anthony Cummings’s career at the crossroads after he struck financial difficulties and his licence to train was revoked by Racing NSW last Monday.

The trainer has had a run of success in recent days with five winners from his past 10 starters.

His most recent Group 1 winner came last October when outstanding three-year-old and stable star El Castello won the Spring Champion Stakes.

Anthony Cummings celebrates his 2022 Oaks victory at Flemington. Picture: Reg Ryan / Racing Photos

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But El Castello has been ruled out of the Sydney autumn carnival due to injury concerns, further compounding Cummings’ plight.

The trainer remains confident of working through his financial issues and has been active at the yearling sales this year.

Cummings purchased an Extreme Choice colt for $400,000 at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale at the Gold Coast last month, then secured two more yearlings at the Inglis Classic Sale last week, paying $180,000 for a Zousain filly and $70,000 for a colt by The Everest winner Yes Yes Yes.

Originally published as The remarkable history of Leilani Lodge stables at Randwick as Anthony Cummings departs