Jupiter Gold sprints home
Trainer Takaoka rolls back time and sends his charge over the shorter distance
A switch in distance - and a timely one at that - saw former top juvenile Jupiter Gold return to his winning ways.
For the last few months - even as far as last November's Dester Singapore Gold Cup, which was run over the 2,200m, trainer Hideyuki Takaoka had been tossing his talented galloper into the deep end.
Group races. Longer trips. The works. And the results didn't seem so good.
Indeed, there had been a noticeable slide in the four-year-old's form - with his last victroy coming in March last year and in a race which was over the mile.
So it was, there were smiles all around when, a drop back to sprints on Sunday proved to be the winning move for Takaoka's talent.
With the results falling way below expectations, Takaoka and owner Kaz Hosaka decided to go back to basics - the sprints and Polytrack, over which Jupiter Gold actually won the first three of his previous six wins.
The switch was, as they say, spot-on, as Jupiter Gold reproduced his electric dash of old in Sunday's $125,000 Speedy Cat 2013 Stakes, a Kranji Stakes A Division 2 race over 1,200m on Polytrack.
Specked to start at $26, Jupiter Gold did not travel all that well throughout the trip, obviously not used to such nippy early sectionals.
But, with first-time partner Olivier Placais keeping him switched on, he soon moved into a striking position into the straight.
He had to sweat on a gap between Distinctive Darci (Vlad Duric) and Kratos (Zuriman Zulkifli) to widen just a touch. But, once he got through, the complexion of the race suddenly changed into a one-horse affair.
Jupiter Gold strode away to a most impressive win, defeating Distinctive Darci by just under three lengths, with Autumn Rush (WH Kok) third.
"Going back to Polytrack and sprints gave us a good result," said Takaoka. "We tried him over long distances and he was not good enough."
Placais said he had to pull out all the stops to get that win - his 24th for the year.
"He showed us his real quality," said the Frenchman. "To change something and bring him back to 1,200m was a good move.
"But I had to pull the stick a few times to wake him up as he was dropping from 1,600m to 1,200m. It's not a long-distance race any more and I didn't want him to switch off at the back.
"I think that has changed his mindset both in trackwork and in races.
"Even behind the gates, I kept him on his toes, just to put him under pressure early.
"He began okay but, from the 800m to the 600m, he dropped the bit and I had to give him a few slaps to keep him focused.
"I had a bit of a scare in the straight as Vlad was keeping me in. So I decided to stay there and ride for luck. It all worked out well."
Jupiter Gold has now taken his handy record to seven wins and four placings from 19 outings for prize money that has now tipped over the $500,000 mark for the Jupiter Gold Stable.
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