Luca Cumani: A Punters Perspective
In October Newmarket trainer Luca Cumani announced his retirement from the training ranks. There have been many tributes paid to him in recent weeks and I thought I would add a few words to the many already written.
When I started betting on horse racing in the 1980s, he was one of the trainers who I followed almost religiously. I just loved his training methodology. In fact, I have to say that without him I may not have continued my betting journey. There have been plenty of betting highs and lows over the years but they don’t alter my admiration of him as a man and a trainer of thoroughbred bred racehorses.
From Milan To Newmarket
Luca Matteo Cumani was born in Milan in 1949. You could say he was born to be involved in horse racing. His mother was a Champion Amateur jockey in Italy and his father was the trainer Sergio Cumani.
Cumani decided in the 1970’s that Britain and Newmarket, in particular, was the place to be if he wanted to become a trainer of top-class racehorses and he left Italy in the mid-1970’s to become the assistant trainer to the late Sir Henry Cecil.
It was not long before he was training in his own right. He purchased Bedford House Stables in Newmarket in 1976 and the winners began to flow.
A whole raft of good racehorses has been trained at Bedford House. Indeed, too many to mention in any detail in this short article.
The horse that arguably put Cumani on the map was Tolomeo.
Cumani The Globetrotting Trailblazer
Tolomeo was taken over to the United States to contest the Arlington Million in 1983, which at the time was the world’s richest horse race. The 3-year-old was ridden by my favourite jockey at the time Pat Eddery. Up against the colt was the American Legend John Henry. Eddery gave the horse a great ride, in a slowly run race, and produced Tolomeo with a daring run along the rail, to take the lead inside the final furlong and hold off the late run of John Henry.
Not only was this first win in the race by a European trained horse but it was also the first British trained horse to win a big American race for fourteen years.
It was a bold move by the trainer to send the horse over the Atlantic for the Million but it would be symbolic of the trainers' globetrotting instincts and targeting of big international races that would continue over the years.
He would go on to win Grade/Group 1 all around the world. Here are just a few of his big international wins:
USA – Breeders Cup Mile with Barathea in 1994.
Canada – The Canadian International Stakes with Infamy in 1988.
Dubai – The Dubai Duty Free with Presvis in 2011.
Hong Kong – The Hong Kong Cup with Falbrav in 2003.
Singapore – Singapore Airlines International Cup – Endless Hall in 2001.
Japan – Japan Cup with Alkaased in 2005.
He also trained Group 1 winners in Ireland including three classics, France, Germany and of course Italy.
Today British trained horses racing around the world is the norm but Cumani was the trailblazer.
Commanche Run And Kahyasi
It wouldn’t be long before he won his first English Classic when he trained Comanche Run to win the St Leger at Doncaster in 1984. Commanche Run showcased the trainers' talent to bring along a horse slowly with the long term in mind. The colt improved with each of his starts as a 3-year-old. He was given a fine ride by Lester Piggott in the oldest classic and gave the jockey a record breaking 28th English Classic win.
The colt wasn’t just a stayer. As a 4-year-old he would be dropped back in trip to win the 1m 2f Benson & Hedges Gold Cup, now known as the Juddmonte International, at York. In the process beating those great race mares Oh So Sharp and Triptych.
Cumani’s successes meant he was also attracting some big-name owners as the likes of Sheik Mohammad and HH The Aga Khan began to send horses to be trained at Bedford House.
It was the latter owner who would provide the trainer with the first of his two Epsom Derby wins with Kahyasi in 1988. The colt won the Lingfield Derby Trial which set him up for a tilt at the Derby.
His ability to handle the switchback track was never in doubt. His pedigree was all middle distance and it was a bit of surprise that he had the speed to win his only start as a juvenile.
He needed every yard of the 1m 4f trip and swooped late to land the race under jockey Ray Cochrane who had become Cumani’s stable jockey.
Barathea And Falbrav
Sheikh Mohammed sent Barathea to be trained by Cumani. Unbeaten on his two starts as a juvenile. He found only Zafonic too good in the 2000 Guineas. He was even better as a 4-year-old going on to win the 1m Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot before finishing a close up 4th when dropped to 6f in the July Cup.
Cumani’s keen sense of preparation was never more evident than when preparing Barathea for the 1994 Breeders Cup Mile. He had a Churchill Down’s style track built at his stable and even sent the horse over to America earlier than all the other European horses to acclimatise. The preparation paid off as Barathea, who had finished 5th in the race as a 3-year-old, went on to beat a high-class field of milers to win by three lengths.
Falbrav joined Cumani as a five-year-old and is another testament to the skills of the trainer. He just got better as he got older. In the summer of 2003, he won the Coral Eclipse, The Juddmonte International and he just failed to beat High Chaparral in the Irish Champion Stakes, He was then dropped back to a mile to win the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot, beating that seasons 1000 Guineas winner in the process.
His versatility was once more evident, after being supplemented for the 1m 4f Breeders Cup Turf. Where he finished third, just a head, behind the dead heating High Chapparral & Johar.
His season and globetrotting weren’t over as he went on to win the Hong Kong Cup, showing a blistering change of gear a furlong out in the hands of Frankie Dettori.
Cumani The Ladies Man
Cumani was also a trainer of plenty of top-class fillies during his career.
Shamshir who won the Fillies mile as a juvenile, Infamy who won the Sun Chariot Stakes, & The E P Taylor Stakes over in Canada.
Ensconse who won the Irish 1000 Guineas in 1989 and Gossamer who won the same race 13 years later.
There was also One So Wonderful who once again benefitted from the trainer’s patience. She didn’t make her seasonal reappearance as a 3-year-old until August but went on to win the Sun Chariot Stakes in the Autumn.
As a 4-year-old she won the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York which was her first race in Group 1 company. That day she had to show plenty of heart to hold off Faithful Son and Chester House by two short heads.
Then there was Free Guest, who as a 3-year-old had won the Extel Handicap at Glorious Goodwood and later in her career went onto win the Sun Chariot Stakes in 1984 & 1985, a race the trainer would go on to win on four more occasions, and the Nassau Stakes also in 1985.
My all-time favourite filly of the Cumani years was Embla. Mainly because I landed one of my biggest bets. The filly gave Cumani his first Group 1 juvenile success when landing the Cheveley Park Stakes in 1995. I had been at Ripon when she had just scrambled home at long odds on. She didn’t really like the track and you could see this was a high class 2-year-old filly from her paddock appearance and movement.
I couldn’t really believe she was 25/1 when I entered my local William Hill shop on the morning of the Cheveley Park. Top American jockey Angel Cordero had been booked for the filly who ran in the colours of Charles St George. I thought I had done my money in the early stages of the race as Embla seemed to be struggling in the rear. But under the Cordero drive she made relentless progress and once she met the rising ground, she was able to collar the favourite Kingscote in the final 50yds.
Given the trainers' ability with the fillies and mares it was ironic that it would be a filly that would give the trainer his final Group 1 success when God Given won the Premio Lydia Tesio in Italy in November of this year.
The Handicap Plots
Cumani became well known for setting horses up for handicaps like the Extel Handicap at Goodwood. Back in the 1980s, the 1m 2f Extel Handicap was one of the highlights of Glorious Goodwood. It was for three-year-old’s only and more often than not was won by an unexposed middle-distance horse who would go on to run in Group company later in their careers.
Cumani won the race three times in a row with Free Guest, Fish N Chips and Chinoiserie who all went on to win in pattern company.
Then there was Knockando who had been an ante-post gamble for the Magnet Cup at York. Knockando was first past the post but was disqualified in the Steward’s room after the race. Much to the cost of my wallet.
Not Only A Master Trainer
Not only was Cumani a great trainer of a racehorse. He would help develop the careers of jockeys such as Frankie Dettori, Jimmy Fortune, and Jason Weaver. Indeed, It’s fair to say that Dettori probably wouldn’t have been the jockey he is today if he hadn’t come under the guidance of Cumani so early in his career.
Not only were jockeys mentored by him so were plenty of future trainers with the likes of Rae Guest, John Berry, David Simcock, and Marco Botti all working with him at Bedford House in some capacity.
The Later Years
Sadly, things didn’t always go his way off the racecourse. He suffered the loss of key owners such as Sheikh Mohammed and H. H. The Aga Khan, the latter moved all his horses from Newmarket after the Oaks disqualification of Aliysa after winning the Oaks.
In recent years he lost plenty of nice horses owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaida. Including Postponed who Cumani had trained to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2015.
The loss of that large number of horses probably hastened the end of his training career. Still, he tried to continue with horses who were not of the quality of horse he had been used to dealing with in the past.
Despite losing such big owners Cumani always acted like the true gentleman he was.
Luca Cumani trained some great horses during his 43-year career with a patience and finesse matched by few others in the training ranks.
Despite losing his best horses. You could always tell one of his horse in the paddock as they always looked so well turned out.
It’s just a shame that he retires at the lowest ebb of his career. The trainer who held his own against the likes of Cecil, Stoute, Hern, Harwood, Hills, and Gosden deserved to retire at the top of his profession, Sadly, it wasn’t to be.
He will now concentrate on Fiitocks Stud which he and his wife Sara have owned and managed since 1984.
Luca Cumani will be missed by me and many other punters of a certain age. But more importantly, the British training ranks have lost one of the greats.
John Burke
© 2018 Blue Delta Marketing Ltd
