Stradbroke Handicap crunch: Vilana smashed in betting as James Cummings nails timing third time around

Godolphin are looking to be third time lucky with Vilana in the Stradbroke Handicap, with the born again sprinter subject to a huge betting plunge following his dominant win in the Moreton Cup at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Vilana has stormed into Stradbroke Handicap favouritism. Picture: Grant Peters—Trackside Photography.

Godolphin weapon Vilana has been the subject of a Stradbroke Handicap crunch, as trainer James Cummings insisted the timing is spot on to be third time lucky in Queensland’s greatest race.

The newly-gelded Vilana has been sensationally backed into joint $7 favouritism for the Stradbroke after a demolition job in the Group 2 Moreton Cup on Saturday, with Cummings saying the stars have aligned this preparation to pull off a Stradbroke heist.

After racing in the famous handicap as a colt for the last two years, Vilana returns as a gelding this time around and Cummings says it is all part of a deliberate plan to have a battle hardened sprinter going into the $3m feature.

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“It is an opportune year for a horse like Vilana to come along and be a winning chance,” he said.

“It’s an interesting feature that a few of the horses at the head of the market are lightly raced going into it, but there are a few there that have had solid campaigns.

It’s the @mcacajamez show at Eagle Farm!

Vilana gives him 5 winners for the day with an easy win in the G2 Moreton Cup!@BrisRacingClub@[e-mail]/wO9zeeQoUW

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 8, 2024

“You saw in the Oaks on the weekend (with Socks Nation), there is something to be said for the horse that is tough and fit and been in work a long time.”

Cummings will look to pull off a training masterstroke by becoming the first horse to do Moreton Cup-Stradbroke Handicap double, with 24 starters only producing five placegetters.

Vilana has become a serious Stradbroke Handicap force following his Moreton Cup victory. Picture: George Sal — Racing Photos via Getty Images.

“We have felt for a long time that Vilana has had the potential to get into one of these big Group 1 handicaps and be a serious force,” Cummings said.

“It has been a matter of timing, now the timing looks spot on and there is no doubt given he has a new found level of focus on his racing this preparation that there is a real sense of it for the Stradbroke provided he can put two runs together.

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“I haven’t been keen to back him up before, but I ran him in the Moreton Cup knowing he would be comfortably in the field for the Stradbroke, thinking he needed the last solid hit out a week out from the Stradbroke.

“It is the path we have chosen this year, he went into winning a Fred Best Classic a few years ago and he was off some OK form at weight-for-age last year, this year he has got the timing right.

“I think it is right to say this is his best chance in the race.”

Originally published as Stradbroke Handicap crunch: Vilana smashed in betting as James Cummings nails timing third time around