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.