Aomen has been included in the 2015 Show County Quality field and trainer Anthony Cummings has confirmed that the veteran galloper will return to the races in the Group 3 event at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Aomen will carry 57.5 kilograms in the 2015 Show County Quality at Royal Randwick this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart
Aomen joined the Cummings stable last year and he took out the Myer Spring Fashion Handicap (1400m) in his Australian racing debut, but he has been unable to record another win since and he was sent to the spelling paddock after he finished a credible seventh in the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) at the Gold Coast on April 25.
Cummings included Aomen in the nominations for both the Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m) and the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m) that will be held at Royal Randwick this weekend, but he opted to take the shorter option with the Shamardal gelding and he told Racing Ahead that the eight-year-old has shown enough in his recent trials to suggest that he will be more than competitive in the Show County Quality.
“I have accepted with him in the shorter race, the Show County,” Cummings said.
“His trial the other day was very good and I think that is more like his level.
“There is a far bit of depth in the weight-for-age race and I thought that I would take the easier option.
“I think that the trial is an accurate representation of where he is up to and that is to say that it was a pretty nice trial.
“He seems to be a sharper horse here than his form in Hong Kong and he is effective over the shorter course.
“He was effective first-up last time in a lesser grade, but I think that he has come back sharper again this time.
“He will be competitive at least on Saturday.”
Aomen was outclassed when he made his Australian Group 1 debut in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) that was held at Royal Randwick on April 11, but Cummings remains hopeful that the gelding can prove competitive at the highest level of racing.
The Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick on October 3 will be the early spring target for Aomen and Cummings is optimistic that the imported galloper can prove that he is worthy of a place in the 2015 Cox Plate field.
“I suppose that the grand plan is to go towards the Epsom,” Cummings said.
“He is nominated for the Cox Plate and he would need to find his best form plainly to make that a sensible thing, but if you are not in you can’t win.
“He has the nomination there and I am hopeful that along the way he will live up to it.”
The 2015 Show County Quality field was released this morning and Aomen is set to take on the likes of Heart Testa, Wouldnt It Be Nice, Boss Lane, Countryman, Decision Time, Vashka and Best Case in the Group 3 event.
