Tony Cruz present to see Silent Witness
work at Nakayama
Sprinters Stakes News (3)
Heavy rain on Tuesday
night in Tokyo turned tracks heavy for the overseas horses
preparing for
this weekend's Sprinters Stakes.
Hong Kong's storied
speedster Silent Witness moved to the international stables at Nakayama yesterday and was out on
the track at 7:30am on Wednesday morning, with trainer Tony Cruz watching closely.
The retired Shanghai King (C188) ¡V in Japan ¡§to keep Silent Witness company on the
plane and at the stables,¡¨ Cruz explained ¡V joined last year's Sprinters Stakes champion on the
dirt, or what could better be termed as "muck" after the deluge.
¡§The dirt was so bad you couldn¡¦t even walk on it,¡¨
Cruz said. ¡§I thought he would stumble but he didn¡¦t. I¡¦m happy about that. Shanghai
King stumbled three times!¡¨
Though there was concern among the smattering of
reporters who turned out on the cloudy Wednesday morning that Silent Witness
was overweight - up 20kgs [44lbs] upon arrival in Japan
over last year¡¦s race weight - Cruz was unperturbed.
¡§He¡¦ll be 100 percent on race day,¡¨ he said with
confidence. He did, however, admit that the horse has ¡§lost some early speed.¡¨
This, Cruz believes, is simply due to age. ¡§I can get him to his peak. Ability-wise
he may have slipped a little.¡¨
Trainer of Australian rival Takeover Target, Joseph Janiak, gave the
nod to Silent Witness when asked which horse he most feared among the
three other foreign-based competitors. ¡§On his day, he¡¦s unbeatable.¡¨ Janiak
said. Takeover Target worked on turf Wednesday under exercise rider Luke
Pepper.
Janiak said he was ¡§quite
happy, considering conditions¡¨ for the day¡¦s work. ¡§The turf is pretty chopped
up on the inside but they¡¦ll be moving the rail. It should be fine,¡¨ he said.
Jockey Jay Ford is
expected to take the reins from Thursday.
The weather forecast predicts more rain Wednesday,
then none through race day. Janiak said he was hoping for firmer ground, though
Cruz said he would like the track ¡§to have a little give in it.¡¨