A perfect draw for Aerovelocity and wide gates for three of his main rivals have Paul O’Sullivan in a buoyant mood ahead of Sunday’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo Racecourse, but the trainer is keeping a close watch on the weather with rain predicted.
Aerovelocity came up with gate four in the 197,600,000 yen (HK$12, 9 million) Group One, while three local fancies Mikki Isle, Copano Richard and Straight Girl drew the three widest barriers – 16, 17 and 18.
“Couldn’t be happier with that,” O’Sullivan said from Chukyo, where he oversaw Aerovelocity’s final piece of trackwork on Thursday morning. “He is a versatile horse that can jump with them or take a trail, but with 18 runners I would have hated to have drawn right out.”
With the barrier draw out of the way, of greater concern to O’Sullivan is the possibility of rain. “The forecast says there is a 60 per cent chance of rain,” he said. “A wet track is an unknown for him, he hasn’t seen one before, and horses by Pins, some handle it and some don’t. Although I think most speedy types like him like it on top of the ground. I had a quick walk of the track yesterday and there’s isn’t much grass cover on the inside. It’s very patchy, so I am worried it could get torn up pretty badly if it does rain.”
Some three-quarter pace work on the course proper on Thursday was Aerovelocity’s final serious piece of work and O’Sullivan said his six-year-old was in top order.
“We put him on the scales and he is only three pounds lighter than when he won the Hong Kong Sprint last December,” he said. “he is fit enough, has handled the travel well and we’ve got him right where we need him to be.”
O’Sullivan met Japan Racing Association stewards on Thursday and sought permission to follow similar pre-race procedures to at Sha Tin in the mounting yard at Chukyo.
“He gets very revved up before a race,” the trainer said. “The horses parade for a very long time before races here and there is a long tunnel under the grandstand from the parade ring to the track. We’ve got a plan to make sure we get the jockey [Zac Purton] on at the right time to make sure the horse stays under control.”
