James Bartholomew Cummings (14 November 1927 – 30 August 2015), also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he won 'the race that stops a nation' a record twelve times. During his lifetime Cummings was considered an Australian cultural icon and an Australian National Living Treasure. His status as a racing icon in the 20th century was generally considered equivalent to that of Etienne L. de Mestre in the 19th century.
Early life
Cummings was born in 1927, in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of the accomplished trainer Jim Cummings, who trained the great stayer Comic Court to a win in the 1950 Melbourne Cup. Bart started his career working for his father as a strapper, despite being allergic to horses and hay. Cummings had an older brother, Pat, and said of his father; "I had the best of teachers. My dad had a lot of experience behind him and I picked up from him by watching, listening, and keeping my mouth shut".
Training career
Cummings received his trainer licence in 1953, and set up stables at Glenelg in South Australia. His first significant win came in 1958, when he won the South Australian Derby, his first Group 1 win.
Cummings had a record total of 89 runners in the Melbourne Cup starting in 1958 with Asian Court who finished twelfth. His next entrant was Trellios who fronted up in 1959 and finished fifth. In 1960, Sometime finished in sixth place. It wasn't until 1965 that, with three runners in the Melbourne Cup, Cummings finished first with Light Fingers and second with Ziema, with his other runner, The Dip, finished eighteenth.
Cummings won his first Trainer's Premiership in the 1965–1966 season. Not only did he achieve his first Melbourne Cup victory that year, but he also won the Adelaide, Caulfield, Sandown, Sydney, Brisbane and Queen's cups.
In 1968, Cummings opened stables, now called Saintly Lodge, at Flemington in Melbourne, home of the Flemington Racecourse. Later that year, he won the Trainer's Premiership the first of five.
In 1969, the favourite for the Melbourne Cup was Cummings' horse Big Philou, which had already won the Caulfield Cup. However, the horse was drugged illicitly with a large dose of laxative the morning of the race and was unable to compete.
In 1974 he became the first trainer in the British Commonwealth to train horses who won $1 million in prize money.
In 1975, Cummings moved his operations to a new facility near Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, called 'Leilani Lodge'.
In the late 1980s, Cummings spent millions of dollars purchasing racehorses, much of the money spent on behalf of a tax minimisation syndicate. Unfortunately, like many other trainers Cummings was hit hard by the recession of the early 1990s. With help from Reg Inglis' organisation, however, he avoided bankruptcy and continued training.
Cummings had training facilities at Randwick (NSW) and Flemington(Vic) but in 2014 the Flemington stables closed and all horses and training moved to Randwick. Cummings had gone into virtual retirement at Princes his property at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Bart's grandson and partner, James made the decision for financial reasons.
Cummings' final Melbourne Cup winner was Viewed in the 2008 race, when the horse beat Bauer in a photo finish. This was his 12th Melbourne Cup victory, on the 50th anniversary of the day when he entered his first Cup runner.
Cummings achieved 246 Group 1 victories and more than 776 stakes victories. In addition to his 12 Melbourne Cups, he won the Caulfield Cup seven times, the Golden Slipper Stakes four times, the Cox Plate five times, the VRC Oaks nine times and the Newmarket Handicap eight times. He also won the Australian Cup thirteen times.
Honours
1974 ABC Sportsman of the Year
1982 Made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the racing industry. 1991 11 December 1991, Cummings was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. 1997 Named in National Trusts 100 Australian Living Legends (chosen by a national vote) 2000 Awarded a Centennial Medal and carried the Olympic Torch 2001 An inaugural inductee into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame . 2004 First licensed person to be made Lifetime member of Victoria Racing Club 2007 Australia Post placed his image on a postage stamp as part of its Australian Legends series. 2008 Racing NSW announced a new horse racing award to be known as The Bart Cummings Medal which will be awarded for 'consistent, outstanding performances amongst jockeys and trainers at New South Wales metropolitan race meetings through the racing season.