King Thoroughbreds has negotiated a training contract with Australia's current number one Group 1 winning trainer, Bart Cummings. He is famous world-wide for being the trainer of 11 Melbourne Cup winners “to date”, and he is quite commonly referred to as the “Cups King”. He has mastered the art of training sprinters and milers, as well as stayers, and very few horses leave his stables as maidens. Bart Cummings states his aims are “to select, breed and train horses with the potential to be Group 1 winners”. There cannot be a more consistent top level trainer in Australia today than Bart Cummings with Group 1 wins every year for 35 years and a total of 244 Group 1 wins to date, and 666 stakes winners.

Some Group 1 highlights:

23 Oaks: 7AJC, 8 VRC, 1 QTC, 6 SAJC, 1 WATC
27 Derbys: 4 AJC, 5 VRC, 1 QTC, 9 SAJC, 8 WATC

go to www.bartcummings.com.au for a detailed list of 244 Group 1 wins

Bart Cummings operates two metropolitan stables and his own spelling & breeding complex:

Leilani Lodge @ Randwick, Sydney
With 59 roomy boxes, several day yards, a sand roll and two walking machines, Leilani Lodge is a well-established facility backing onto Randwick racecourse; with full access to the training tracks and ‘course proper' and the equine swimming pool as provided by the Australian Jockey Club. Bart has trained many of his Group winning horses within these facilities, including Taikun, Besame Mucho, Saintly, Ming Dynasty, Beau Zam and Leilani herself.

Saintly Place @ Flemington, Melbourne
With 30 boxes, day yards and a veterinary clinic right next door, Saintly Place is well-situated on the doorstep of Flemington racecourse; with full access to the training tracks and facilities as provided by the Victorian Racing Club. The horses are closely monitored by Bart's long time Melbourne foreman, Reg Fleming, who implements the trainers every instruction and his close ally, Joe Agresta, who has been riding track work for Bart for 30 years ! Many horses have won Group 1 races from the Melbourne stable, including Magical Miss, Rogan Josh, Dane Ripper, Saintly and Let's Elope.

Princes Farm, Castlereagh NSW
After the yearling sales and between training preparations, the horses arrive at the Bart Cummings-owned Princes Farm, which provides spelling, breaking in and pre-training facilities. Princes Farm is ideally located about one hour's drive north-west from Sydney at the foot of the Blue Mountains on the banks of the Nepean River.

Before Bart Cummings purchased the picturesque property in 1988, champions such as Kingston Town, Toy Show and Strawberry Road had rested at Princes and the first ever shuttle stallion Abbot's Fel (GB) also stood there. Group One winners trained by Bart Cummings, such Ming Dynasty, Shaftesbury Avenue, Saintly, Danendri, Dane Ripper, Rogan Josh and Magical Miss have all agisted at the farm. Saintly was in fact bred at Princes Farm.

The property covers 150 acres of rich, improved pasture and comfortably supports 120 thoroughbreds of all ages including foals, weanlings, yearlings, broodmares, spellers, pre-trainers and the retired champion Saintly. The 1100m track allows horses to be broken-in and pre-trained before heading into work at Randwick or Flemington.

Farm Manager, Selena Phillis, has been employed on the farm for more than 15 years and has vast experience with equine and farm management. Agnes Bank Equine vet partner, Dr Neil Walton, resides on the farm and keeps a close watch over the horses, thus providing a 24 hour vet service.

Bart visits the farm weekly and is able to monitor the horse's progress and determine each stage of the horse's preparation and development. Nothing escapes his eagle eye!