(from Asian Mile Challenge Website)
Gray skies threatened rain early Saturday as fickle weather seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Morning forecasts predicted rain for later in the day, but by 9 a.m. the call for rain was pulled. A few drops did fall during morning work and the prospect of rain was welcomed by Caspar Fownes, "We'd have no problem with the rain," Fownes said of The Duke. "In fact, he's probably better in the wet." Fownes said he had found "a bit of give in the turf" on Thursday and like that. The track was unlikely to harden up anymore by Sunday afternoon even with no rain, however.
The Duke was the last of the Hong Kong three to come out on the track Saturday, shortly after 7 a.m. Exercise rider Dale Bussey replaced jockey Dwayne Dunn and took The Duke around the dirt track for a couple of leisurely laps. "He's good. He's fit," said Fownes. "His body weight is good," he said despite the opinions of some that The Duke looked thin. "His coat is a bit spotty, but he's eating well and in good shape."
As did the other Hong Kong trainers, Fownes looked to the track as the biggest concern. The Duke, Fownes explained, wants no more than a mile and the Tokyo 1,600-metre course, with its two hills, requires more of an effort than a flat run. "The mile here is a strong test," the 39-year-old Fownes said as he motioned to the rising straight. "We'll ride him a bit more conservatively than usual, then hit the last with a bit more," he said of their tactics for Sunday.
So far, Fownes said, "he's pleased me." The weight loss was not a concern. "A few pounds is not going to hurt anything," he said. "We've drawn fine. He's been unlucky in his draws, so No. 10 is good for him. He's such an honest horse. He may not have had the ideal preparation, but he's in good form. He's fit," The Duke's trainer emphasized. Sunday Fownes said he would jog the horse a bit again. There would be no schooling.
Bullish Luck and Joyful Winner as well had both entered the dirt track just after 6:30, earlier than previous days due to races starting at 10 a.m. at the Tokyo venue. Cody Mo Wai-kit, not Brett Prebble, was once again aboard Bullish Luck. He gave Cruz a thumbs-up after taking Bullish Luck around for the usual laps at a slow canter.
Cruz, looking a bit drawn, likely from late-night socializing more than any concern with his horse, said all was looking good. He had taken Bullish Luck to the paddock Thursday afternoon for a look around and said the training menu would be the same on race day as Saturday. "All the work's been done in Hong Kong," Cruz said. The trainer also said he was quite happy with the No. 4 draw. "Last year we had 16, so this is a lot better."
Joyful Winner followed Bullish Luck out for the same, a couple laps over dirt at a canter. Darren Beadman was the only jockey of the three riding work, the only jockey present Saturday morning. John Moore said he was happy with the work and the horse's condition. "His weight is back up in the 60s where I like it."
Moore, like Fownes, was not afraid if it were to rain. "He can handle it." The No. 16 draw, he said, was not a concern either as the horse would be going from the back. "Darren can cope," he said of jockey Beadman. "Unless some horse forces us in, we'll be getting him to relax and drop the bit" before making a run from about the 800 mark.
Moore had not taken Joyful Winner for any schooling, but didn't think the crowds on race day would give him cause for alarm. "He's very laid back. He won't be bothered. He may have a look around, but that's all," Moore said of Joyful Winner. What most worried him, Moore said, was the track, its condition and the hills. "It's very beat up in parts," he said.
Track sub-manager Kiyotaka Negishi explained that the entire track had had its usual annual overseed in September and that any bias that was being rumoured was certainly not a bias, but proof that the playing field had in fact been leveled. "The horses on the inside don't have a disadvantage," he said, and admitted that this, at this time of year, after three meetings at Tokyo, especially the latest long one, is not usually the case.
Normally a dry time of year just before the rainy season, this spring has had an unusual amount of rainfall and the grass is flourishing. "There are patches where it's bald but the underseed is strong. There is definitely not a bias," Negishi said. Darren Beadman agreed that there were definite sparse areas. The inside track on the backstretch, he said, was "as bare as a baby's bum." Joyful Winner's trainer John Moore, who had listened keenly to talk of a possible bias, took Negishi's explanation on board. He said though that he would be watching the races closely to see how they were running.
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