Singapore no Match for Takeover Target - 05-19-08

May 19 - At the Group I KrisFlyer International Sprint run at Kranji in Singapore on Sunday night, Nine-year-old Australian thoroughbred, Takeover Target, proved his mettle when he mustered the strength to hold off Magnus, to take the race.

While many punters feel that Takeover Target may have reached and exceeded his prime, this victory has proved that the gelding still has plenty of fight left in him yet.

Clearly owner and trainer, Joe Janiak, has the magic touch judging by Takeover's impressive stamina and will to win. The gelding left the gates a little slowly, but was soon enough sharing the pace with local goer, Why Be, followed closely by fellow Australian, Magnus.

A sad note was when the unfortunate Hong Kong gelding, Absolute Champion, broke a fetlock early in the race and was retired, sadly to be euthanized after the race.

Meanwhile, Takeover Target was keeping a good pace while Magnus was moving up the field, setting up what was to become an exciting showdown. Why Be, starting to feel the pressure, began to fall back as Takeover continued to lead the field, also leaving behind Jay Ford.

With Magnus hot on his heels and closing in, and Hong Kong gelding, Sanziro, in a solid third place, Takeover Target just managed to hold on to win the race by a nose, although with a time of 1.08.8 for the 1200m, ensuring that the track record remained safe.

Said Joe Janiak after the race, 'I feel that Takeover Target has at least another 10 percent improvement left in him, so just imagine what kind of time he would have run if he were fit.'