Gin Runner a first for young trainer

Trainer Edward Cummings will saddle his first metropolitan Saturday runner at Rosehill.

A momentous year for Edward Cummings will go to the next level at Rosehill when he saddles up his first Saturday city runner as a trainer in his own right.

The young horseman dissolved his partnership with father Anthony earlier this year to become an independent trainer, setting up a base at Hawkesbury in north western Sydney.

Earlier this month, he trained his first winner – Gin Runner at Wellington – and on Saturday the same horse will tick another box on Edward Cummings’ bucket list when he lines up in the opening event.

“He was the first horse in the stable, the first to win and he’s now the first to race on a Saturday for me,” Cummings said.

Since going out on his own, Cummings has put his energy into getting the right stable systems and processes in place to lay a solid foundation for the future.

His focus has not been on getting winners, but rather on assembling a good group of staff and finding the right mix of horses.

His short-term goal is to have 20-25 horses in work by the end of the year and with up to 12 currently going through their paces, Cummings is on track.

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“It’s been a growing process, a good process,” Cummings said.

“I’m not putting myself under any pressure to train a certain number of winners. It’s simply too early and we’re too young to really focus on that so much.

“It’s more about taking care of the horses we’ve got, building on those numbers and making sure our service to our owners and the results we get on the track are city-standard, even though we’re based out of Hawkesbury.”

Gin Runner will be lining up for his fourth start on Saturday.

He pulled up shin sore after finishing down the track in the Black Opal Stakes on debut then after being outsprinted first-up over 900 metres at Newcastle, he went to Wellington and outclassed his rivals to land his maiden win.

While a country form reference does not always translate successfully to town, Cummings has seen enough ability from Gin Runner in his work and trials to believe the colt can compete in Sydney.

“Gin Runner has improved from his run at Wellington the other day, the time was decent for the state of the track and it’s proved a very good form race,” Cummings said.

“The second, third and fourth horses out of that race have all come out and won at their most recent starts.”