Last spring Melbourne jockey James Winks teamed up with Bart Cummings for the first time and won the Group Two Salinger Stakes at Flemington for him on Swick.

The combination has been together since and continues on Friday at Wagga Wagga where Winks has two rides for Cummings.
Winks will ride God’s Hand in the Listed $120,000 Shep’s Earthmoving Repairs Wagga Wagga Gold Cup (2000m) and either Validated or Perseid in the Murrumbidgee Guineas (1600m).

It will be Winks’ first time at Wagga while God’s Hand, which was the first emergency for last week’s Doncaster Hcp but missed a start, could be one of two runners for Cummings in the cup.

He has also accepted with Fianchetto but the four year old is second emergency.

Last year Cummings ventured to the Wagga carnival for the first time with two horses and ran second in the cup with Mi Casa and seventh in the Murrumbidgee Guineas with Lasker.

A record 517 nominations have been received for Thursday and Friday which has translated into a record 286 acceptances – 144 for Thursday which features the $60,000 XXXX Gold Town Plate (1200m) and 142 for Friday.

However that does not include the more than 30 horses balloted out of minor races while four missed the cut for the Cup and three for the Town Plate.

Both the Cup and Town Plate have capacity fields of 16 runners each plus four emergencies while the Guineas has 16 runners plus three emergencies. 

“We are over whelmed with the response to this year’s carnival from owners and trainers,” Murrumbidgee Turf Club’s chief executive, Christine Williams, said.

“It is unfortunate that so many horses had to be balloted out but dividing races was not an option.

“We prefer to offer eight high quality races on both days.”

Winks, who is in Sydney at present, said he was looking forward to riding at Wagga on Friday.

“I have heard plenty of positive things about the Wagga carnival but never had an opportunity to ride at it until now,” Winks said.

Winks will fly down on Friday morning and return that night to ride Grand Destiny in the Sydney Cup on Saturday.

Grand Destiny has won his last two starts at Caulfield and Flemington with Winks in the saddle both times and the jockey has not ruled out riding a Wagga-Sydney cup double.

“Both horses are real chances in their races,” Winks said.