‘He showed everyone he’s a really good stayer in the making’: El Castello dominant in Gloaming Stakes at Rosehill

El Castello provided trainer Anthony Cummings with a welcome big-race win as the three-year-old continued his rise through the ranks in the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes.

El Castello made it three wins in a row with victory in the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes at Rosehill. Picture: Getty Images

Trainer Anthony Cummings put behind him a week of controversy as his promising El Castello continued his winning momentum at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

In three successive wins, El Castello has vaulted from a maiden to Group 3 success in the $500,000 Gloaming Stakes (1800m).

Cummings now has ambitions on the Group 1 $2m Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick in two weeks with El Castello.

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“I knew this day was coming and I think he gets better again at 2000m,” Cummings said.

“I suppose I thought he was going well enough to win in each of those two races easily but he was just being himself and not really understanding exactly what he is here for.

“That’s why I saw today for the first time he has come away from them and showed himself properly.

“He’s usually waiting around for something to challenge him but he showed everyone he’s a really good stayer in the making.”

El Castello ($6.50), ridden by Josh Parr, powered clear to win by nearly two lengths from Swiftfalcon ($2.60 favourite) with Firm Agreement ($26) a short-head away third.

It was a welcome big-race win for Cummings who has been issued with a “show cause” notice by Racing NSW after the trainer’s business was placed in administration.

“You always worry about those things,” Cummings said.

“But they are just doing the job they are supposed to do, I understand that.

“I’m sure I have the answers to satisfy everything so it should be fine.”

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

El Castello, which means “the castle” in Spanish, also impressed Parr with the “the natural progression he’s made each time I’ve sat on him.”

But when asked how much improvement El Castello would need to make to mix it to Group 1 level, Parr replied: “Not much at all!”

Parr then spoke briefly to Cummings post-race and made two points to the trainer.

“He’s done exactly what we thought he could and won in the style we thought he could after his gallop on Tuesday,” Parr said.

“The other thing is, and we will talk about it, he doesn’t need much more.”

El Castello firmed into $4.50 equal second favouritism with Henlein behind the $2.80 favourite Swiftfalcon for the Spring Champion Stakes.

Both Cummings and Parr are chasing their third win in the Group 1 race.

The trainer has won it with Hotel Grand (2005) and Teranaba (2006), while Parr has scored on Hampton Court (2014) and Shadow Hero (2019).

ANODE HOLDS ON IN A THRILLING FINISH IN THE TAPP-CRAIG

Anode ended a run of stakes near misses but not before making trainer Adrian Bott sweat it out at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

The smart son of I Am Invincible finally broke through for a hard-earned maiden stakes win in the Listed $500,000 Tapp-Craig (1400m).

But a fast finishing Just Party ensured it came with a few nervous moments.

“I’m never one to get confident until they are over the line,” Bott, who trains with Gai Waterhouse, said.

“I saw that horse coming down the inside strongly and we started to shorten stride there, luckily he did enough.

“There’s been a few close finishes with him, I’m glad he was able to get it done today.

“Even when the photo came up, I wasn’t game enough to call it.”

Jockey Tim Clark was allowed to do what he does best on Anode and control matters from out in front.

Anode ($2.80 fav) skipped a couple of lengths clear early in the straight and looked like running away with the three-year-old event.

A total thriller in the Listed Tapp-Craig, with Anode lasting - just!@GaiWaterhouse1| @clarkyhk | @aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/ui0c3ocr0V

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 12, 2024

The Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained Just Party ($9) made things very interesting on the line but Anode hung on by a half-head while Ciaron Maher’s Deconstruction ($31) was two-and-a-quarter lengths away in third.

Clark felt Anode’s tactical speed proved pivotal to his success.

“He probably will win a lot of races because of that tactical speed and putting himself in the race, like many of Gai and Adrian’s horses,” he said.

“It’s good to see him bounce back into the winner’s stall and hopefully he can go on with it from here.”

Anode hadn’t won since his first start back on December 16 last year but has been competitive against some of the best horses of his generation regularly since then.

He was placed three times in stakes grade as a two-year-old and was a runner up to Traffic Warden first up this preparation in the Group 2 Run To The Rose.

“He’s so deserving, he’s a really honest horse,” Bott said.

“Throughout his career he’s run some big races against some very good form line horses, so to get a nice result today, very satisfying.”

The Tapp-Craig was only promoted to Listed level at the beginning of the week, making it all the more valuable for Anode.

Waterhouse and Bott are eager to stretch Anode out further in trip and will now look at running the colt in the Group 2 $1 million Callander-Presnell (1600m) in two weeks.

“I always thought that the mile wouldn’t be a problem,” Bott said.

“I’ll speak to Tim (Clark) and analyse that and see whether we need to change path, but that’s where we were heading coming into today.”