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| Royal Ascot News 2009 |
Global Sprint Challenge Raiders Hopeful of Success 12/06/09
Takeover Target, the great Australian sprinter, will be restricted to just one race at Royal Ascot this year, the Group One Golden Jubilee Stakes worth £450,000 on Saturday, June 20, because of his age.
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He won the King’s Stand Stakes in 2006 - then a Group Two event but promoted to Group One last year - and has finished in the first four on his other five Royal Ascot starts.
Trainer and part-owner Joe Janiak told a Global Sprint Challenge press conference in Newmarket today, Thursday, June 11: “Takeover Target is a bit old but the Golden Jubilee Stakes is one race I would really like to win - he has run second, third and fourth.
“I think he was a bit unlucky last year and he has had a couple of nice placings in it. Last year he did a suspensory in the race when he was in a position to win. We have got him peaking and if he can reproduce his form from the T J Smith Stakes, which he won first up this year, then he has a real big chance.
“It is just mind-boggling to think that a horse of his age can win so well at the top level (as he did in the T J Smith at Randwick on April 18). I thought Takeover Target was a bit under done going into the T J Smith - we had a few problems and I would have been quite happy just to see him placed. He blew my mind out.
“He had shoeing problems coming into the Morphettville race next time and was 90 per cent fit. To win that race was a bonus.
“Takeover Target also had a few little problems in Singapore (where he came eighth in the KrisFlyer International Sprint at Kranji, Singapore, on May 17). The horse was isolated in quarantine on his own and was fretting plus there was the heat and he didn’t eat up all that good. When you travel, all those sort of things need to be in your favour - the horse was just not at his best.
“Sacred Kingdom looks the biggest danger after his win in Singapore. It was a brilliant time. He is a great horse but he has got to travel and everything has to go right for him. Then there is J J (The Jet Plane) whose win the other day was very convincing. They are the two in the race I respect.
“This is not definitely the last time Takeover Target will come to England. I said last year that I probably wouldn’t come back but the horse has been so competitive this year. While Takeover Target is competitive, we will continue running.
“I think he prefers being over here in England better than being in Australia. I will be back here next year for the film (about Takeover Target) anyway.
“His will to win keeps him going - he doesn’t like getting beat, even in his work. He has always been like that. He has an enormous heart and that will to win.
“He cost AUS$1,250 and all I wanted to do at the beginning was to get my money back and a bit of profit by picking up a little race. The rest has just been a dream (He has won over AUS$6 million - more than £2.5 million).
“I never anticipated going overseas - once we started travelling it has been fantastic and I have seen half the world because of him. He has made life easier in a lot of respects for me - my feed man now calls me mate because he is paid on time. When I ring the blacksmith up to get a horse shod in the yard, he comes within a week when it used to be a month! When you are training horses, it makes a lot of difference.”
Asked about the movie that is due to be made about Takeover Target, Janiak replied: “It is good to see the horse being recognized. It is a wonderful story. I cannot believe half the things that this horse has achieved.”
There are stories suggesting Russell Crowe will play the trainer role in the film. Janiak commented: “That would be great - I could teach him a little bit of acting!”
Hong Kong-based Sacred Kingdom has to be supplemented at a cost of £45,000 on Monday to the Golden Jubilee Stakes.
Scenic Blast, the new sprinting sensation from Australia, is half Takeover Target’s age at five and might try to win both legs of the Global Sprint Challenge staged at Royal Ascot next week.
The son of Scenic worked on the Al Bahathri gallop on the Newmarket training grounds this morning and pleased his trainer, the Perth-based Dan Morton.
Morton, who trains 30 horses in Western Australia, said: “There have been a lot of very good horses come out of Western Australia.
“The Eastern states, Melbourne and Sydney, stage the pinnacle of the racing so that is where we have to go. The flight time for the horses is nearly four hours.
“It is great - win, lose or draw - to come over here and see how things operate at a racing mecca.
“Scenic Blast is very effective over both five and six furlongs. The five at Ascot is probably a harder five than our five at home.
“To opt for the five-furlong race first up (the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday, June 16) gives him the softest option and at this stage it does look the easier of the two races.
“Choisir (winner of both the King’s Stand Stakes and the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2003) was a trail-blazer for Australian sprinters. We have similar form to Choisir coming into Royal Ascot and Scenic Blast is in good nick and should be fairly competitive.
“In both the races he has won this year (the Group One five-furlong Lightning Stakes at Flemington on January 31 - the first leg of the 2009 Global Sprint Challenge - and the Group One six-furlong Newmarket Handicap at the same course on March 7) he was back off the speed a little bit. He lets down very quickly which is good attribute to have. He has sometimes been closer to the speed and boxed on very well.
“Steven (Arnold) is a very good jockey and he knew what he had under him. We were 20/1 I think in the first race and there was no great expectation.
“It would probably be an advantage for Steven to have ridden at Ascot before but I prefer to have someone who knows my horse. The uphill finish is a bit of an unknown at Ascot but I am sure Scenic Blast will cope well.
“He had plenty of experience of flying before he came to England and he handled all that very well. Our biggest worry was the travel - he was on the plane some 30 hours - but it was no problem and he has settled in at Newmarket.
“I would like to think we have Scenic Blast somewhere near his best form - he has had a trouble-free prep which is very important going into these big meets.
“He will be left in the Golden Jubilee but it is more likely that he won’t run in it.
“Scenic Blast is very sound so touch wood he can continue racing for a long time. Takeover Target has been remarkable.”
The 36-year-old trainer will also consider running in the third British leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, the Darley July Cup at Newmarket on July 10, and is hoping to win one of three races so his horse can then go to Hong Kong or Japan later in the year for other Global Sprint Challenge contests.
There is a US$1 million bonus for winning any three Group One Global Sprint Challenge races across three different countries.
Arnold was also present at today’s press conference. He said afterwards: “Scenic Blast handles straight courses really well. He likes good cover early so he can get into his rhythm. Then he seems able to produce a good finish.
“A testing 1,000 metres will suit him and he is a nice-actioned horse who travels well in his races. We are as confident as we can be. He is up there with the good sprinters we have had in Australia over the last five years.”
J J The Jet Plane, trained by Mike de Kock, who has 15 horses at what used to be Geoff Wragg’s yard in Newmarket, is being aimed at the Golden Jubilee Stakes.
The five-year-old, who trotted up at Windsor on his British debut at Windsor on June 1, had a blow-out on Newmarket’s July Course this morning.
The South African trainer, who has a stable of 170 horses back home, said: “I have had J J The Jet Plane since September. He has matured - I got him just as he turned four in Southern Hemisphere time - and I think he is on the up.
“We have seen a good part of him but I still think the best is still to come. He is a horse who lands running and gets into the race early.
“He is straightforward for both trainer and jockey. His mind is on the job. He has been in England since May and I think that has been an advantage.”
“J J The Jet Plane has not competed internationally at Group One level but he ran to a very good rating of 120 at Windsor.
“The Windsor race probably has put him spot on for the Golden Jubilee. To have a winner a Royal Ascot is a life’s ambition. I have healthy respect for Sacred Kingdom but his Singapore race may have taken quite a lot out of him - Singapore is a humid environment - and he has had to do a lot of travelling.
“I will consider the Darley July Cup after the Royal Ascot race.”
Mythical Flight, the South African challenger for £300,000 King’s Stand Stakes, is also staying at De Kock’s British base. The six-year-old is trained by Sean Tarry.
De Kock remarked: “Mythical Flight did not travel over well from Singapore (where he finished sixth to Sacred Kingdom) but he is coming right now. He is a specialist over five furlongs and is a very good horse. He is in with a chance.”
American trainer Wesley Ward has four-year-old Cannonball entered in the King’s Stand Stakes, the Golden Jubilee Stakes and the Darley July Cup.
He has also brought over from the US five two-year-olds for Royal Ascot. In a recorded interview, he said: “Cannonball is going to run a bang-up race.”
Royal Ascot takes place from Tuesday, June 16, through to Saturday, June 20, while Newmarket’s Champagne Lanson July Festival happens from Wednesday, July 8, to Friday, July 10.
