`J.B. Cummings with his 12 Melbourne Cup trophys’
The 66 Group 1 races held each racing season are the pinnacle of thoroughbred racing in Australia. From the premier race for two-year-olds, the Golden Slipper, to the elite sprint races, the Newmarket and the Lightning, to the three-year-old Classics, the Derby’s and Oaks, to the premier staying race the Melbourne Cup; a Group 1 race win is the aim of all trainers.
The Group 1, 2, 3 and Listed status system only commenced in Australia in the mid 1970’s and therefore, in calculating the number of Group 1 winners trained by Bart Cummings, we have counted races which were considered to be Group 1 status at the time the race was won.
`Six times Group 1 winner Leilani`
Bart currently holds the record for the most number of Group 1 wins in a training season. At the close of the 1974 -1975 racing season, Bart Cummings had trained the winners of 20 Group 1 races with ten different horses, such as Leilani, Cap d’Antibes, Think Big, Leica Show and Lord Dudley winning in five different states. The races won include the Australian, Brisbane, Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, the Goodwood, Newmarket and Toorak Handicaps, WATC & QLD Derby’s, the VRC Oaks and the Flight and Mackinnon Stakes. The variety of races won reflect the extensive training skills of the trainer.
Bart is leading the current Group 1 trainers list with 264 Group 1 winners.
Trainer: Group One Winners (as of 2/11/10)
Bart Cummings 264
Lee Freedman 123
John Hawkes 96
Gai Waterhouse 100
Jack Denham 59
* Refer to Group 1 History for a complete list of Group 1 wins from 1958 – to today
Bart’s training career highlights include:
12 Melbourne Cups
1965, 1966, 1967, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2008