Punters rally to returning Godolphin fillies at Randwick

Godolphin will start laying the foundations for the autumn carnival with regally bred fillies Exploring and Shaken at Randwick on Saturday.

Exploring (Brazen Beau x Cristobal) is already a stakes winner from the group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude, and Shaken is from a mating of I Am Invincible and Golden Slipper placegetter Earthquake.

Trainer James Cummings has given the three-year-olds the challenge of taking on older horses in separate races at Randwick, where he also has the promising Legio Ten taking the next step in his development.

Exploring starts the day for the blue army in a benchmark 78, where she is a $3.50 favourite despite coming off a six-month break.

“It is just good to have a filly like Exploring back because she has had a long break since her last win,” Cummings said. “She has always been talented and has had two trials, but we want to get her back racing and see where she fits in.”

Exploring has three wins from six starts, and two of her defeats were in the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper as a two-year-old. In her last appearance in July, she was simply too quick for the promising Archo Nacho, which has since been sold to Hong Kong.

“She has always been a very fast horse, and we can get a couple of runs into her to have a fitness edge for the autumn,” Cummings said.“It’s a timing thing with her because you don’t want them to have too long off.

“It’s always hard for three-year-olds at this time of year against the older horses, and she has her share of weight with 58.5 kilos, but she is ready to go.”

Shaken, which like Exploring has been made favourite by punters, has had the benefit of a Warwick Farm win after returning from a three-month ban for a race-day bled.