Godolphin turns focus to Everest audition after flying start to new era

Godolphin has one eye on the Everest as the global racing giant looks to continue its domination of the group 2 Run To The Rose in the early days of a new era that is off to a flying start.

Tempted and Beiwacht will represent Godolphin on Saturday at Rosehill in what shapes as an elite edition of the traditional lead-in to the group 1 Golden Rose for three-year-olds.

Beiwacht cruises to victory in the Silver Slipper in February.Credit: Getty Images

If history is any guide, the pair should prove hard to beat. Godolphin, under former head trainer James Cummings, has won five of the past six Run To The Roses, with Traffic Warden, Cylinder, In Secret, Anamoe and Bivouac, which went on to also claim the 2019 Golden Rose.

Broadsiding won last year’s Golden Rose and has joined Traffic Warden, Cylinder, Anamoe and Bivouac in Godolphin’s Darley stallions line-up.

And while the operation’s immediate focus is the Rose series, Godolphin racing and bloodstock manager Jason Walsh said Tempted and Beiwacht were also on trial for a spot in the $20 million The Everest. Godolphin, which has owned a slot since 2019, has yet to conquer the Everest and is looking to its three-year-olds for a breakthrough.

“They are our two most likely candidates if we do end up selecting one of our internal horses, which would be our desired position,” Walsh said.

Tempted, middle, will be in action at Rosehill on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

“So it’s important that they can run very well against their own age if that is to be a realistic target. So, it’s an important weekend for us and for them obviously, and we’ll learn a lot more come Saturday night.”

In a broader sense, Godolphin is already in a “process of discovery”, just a few weeks into its new public training model. The nation’s biggest trainers, Chris Waller (Beiwacht) and Ciaron Maher (Tempted), have been among several trusted with Godolphin’s horses, and many have struck immediate success, highlighted by a first stakes race win since the change last Saturday with Bjorn Baker-trained Pericles in the group 2 Tramway Stakes.

“It’s going very well, and it’s a credit to the work that has gone in beforehand, the calibre of the horses themselves, and these new trainers are leaving no stone unturned,” Walsh said.

“It couldn’t have gone any better from a racetrack perspective, and hopefully the momentum can continue into some races that matter over the next few months.

Godolphin’s Jason Walsh speaks after jockey James McDonald and Chris Waller Racing’s Charlie Duckworth after the win of Amusing at Rosehill on August 16.Credit: Getty Images

“There’s a lot of moving parts in a racing and breeding program like ours, and that goes all the way back to the studs. These horses get the opportunity throughout their development to be their best, and certainly for the ones that have already raced, the training team have done a wonderful job in preparing them and sending them to their new homes in great order.

“It will be very interesting to hear feedback from a number of different training systems, and we will learn as we go, but hopefully they can keep winning.”

Walsh said Godolphin Australia’s focus remained on growing its breeding business.

“Beiwacht is a group 2-winning son of Bivouac, who obviously won a Golden Rose for us and stands at stud at Darley, so that’s very much the focus,” he said.

‘It’s an important weekend for us and for them.’

“Beiwacht has the role, hopefully, as a stallion prospect in his own right, but he’s also flying the flag for Bivouac and is very important.

“The racing program is there largely to support the stallion base and add stallions to the barn, that hasn’t changed in any way. And in terms of our involvement in where horses are planned and programmed, I don’t think there are any manifestly different approaches.”

Beiwacht won the Silver Slipper but then struggled from wide gates in the Todman Stakes and Golden Slipper. He returned two weeks ago with a gritty effort to finish third in the San Domenico Stakes and was $11 (Sportsbet) from gate four for Saturday.

“Very pleased. He stayed on strongly,” Walsh said of the run.

James McDonald wins the Percy Sykes Stakes on Tempted. Ethan Brown rides her on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

“He had a tricky draw, so he covered plenty of ground without cover. Through his two-year-old season, he just got it wrong on a couple of days, in terms of his racing pattern, but we were very pleased with how he relaxed in his run.

“Chris was very pleased with his return, and we are certainly expecting him to make his presence felt on Saturday.”

Tempted, third in the Golden Slipper and a two-time group 2 winner, was $5 from gate seven for Saturday after an eye-catching trial return.

“The trial was very pleasing. James McDonald obviously knows her very well, and he was happy she was up to the mark,” he said.

“She had the one public hit-out, but Ciaron has done plenty of work with her at home, so the expectation is that she will turn up there and run up to her best, too.

“She showed herself to be a top-class filly in the autumn, and she’s given every indication she’s come back well and we are very hopeful with her as well.”

Todman Stakes winner Tentyris was another star two-year-old for Godolphin, but Walsh said he was “very unlikely” to target the Everest.

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