When Luca Cumani announced on Monday that he will give up his trainer’s licence at the end of the season after 43 years, the news cut one of Flat racing’s few remaining ties to a time when smaller owner-breeders had a fair crack of the whip, and modern-day leviathans like Godolphin and Coolmore were still in their infancy.
In 16 seasons from the start of the 1980s until 1996, when Saeed bin-Suroor won his first trainer’s title for Godolphin, Henry Cecil and Michael Stoute claimed 11 titles between them. Cumani did not count a championship among his many achievements but the best runners from his Bedford Lodge yard were always fierce and worthy opponents for his Newmarket neighbours’ stable stars.
Many outstanding horses passed through Cumani’s hands in the 80s and 90s, including two Derby winners in Kahyasi (1988) and High-Rise (1998), while Barathea took the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 1993 and the Breeders’ Cup Mile a year later.
A split with the Aga Khan, Kahyasi’s owner, before the 2000 season was a major setback, with Kalanisi, a subsequent Breeders’ Cup winner, among the horses to leave the yard. Falbrav, though, helped Cumani to return to the sport’s top table with five Group One wins and a narrow defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Turf in 2003.
During his best seasons, Cumani’s name jumped out of any list of runners for a major race, be it a Group One or a valuable handicap, as he took great delight in readying a dark horse for a tilt at a big purse from the bottom end of the weights.
Cumani also mentored several leading jockeys, the most notable being Frankie Dettori, who was 14 when he arrived at Bedford Lodge and much in need of a steadying hand as his precocious talent developed.
“I wouldn’t say it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, but I’ve come to realise the time is right,” Cumani said on Monday. “I’ve been very lucky and privileged to have won big races all around the world and I no longer have the material to do so. I’ve been to Churchill Downs and Melbourne and now we’re having more runners at Wolverhampton and Chelmsford and it’s not quite the same.”
Cumani’s son, Matt, is settled as a trainer in Australia while his daughter, Francesca, is a presenter on ITV Racing and Cumani does not think “she will be giving up her job to start training any time soon”. As a result, Bedford Lodge will be sold in the new year, with Cumani and his wife Sara turning their focus to his Fittocks Stud, just outside Newmarket.
“I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to offer myself another job at our stud,” Cumani said. “Some horses will be sold, some will go to other trainers and that will be that. I don’t like saying it’s the end as no-one has died. We’ve just decided on a change of direction.”
Yarmouth 1.30 Nostrovia 2.00 Summer Flair 2.30 Maqsad 3.00 Mashirah 3.30 Spanish History (nb) 4.00 Debatable 4.30 Tellovoi 5.00 Juan Horsepower
Newcastle 2.10 Green Fortune 2.40 Turjomaan 3.10 Glenamoy Lad 3.40 Swissterious (nap) 4.10 Don’t Do It 4.40 Coral Queen 5.10 Swansway 5.45 Pure Shores
Exeter 2.20 Still Believing 2.50 Bradford Bridge 3.20 Akkapenko 3.50 Earth Moor 4.20 Sternrubin 4.50 Freddy Fanatapan
Kempton 5.40 Royal Dancer 6.10 Fastidious 6.40 Coachella 7.10 Fox Champion 7.40 Equally Fast 8.10 Human Nature 8.40 Pilot Wings 9.10 Cristal Spirit
