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| Staff Writer |
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Trainer Caspar Fownes expressed his hopes for Straight Arron to perform well on his first international mission, even against a field of world-class competitors. The trainer was impressed with the horse's final hit-out, a 1,700m turf trial at Happy Valley, where he led home a field of nine under jockey Hugh Bowman.
Straight Arron is set to compete in the Gr.1 Dubai Turf on 30th March, where he will face local rival Voyage Bubble and several other international stars. Fownes is excited to see how his highest-rated galloper fares against such a talented group of competitors.
“It was a nice trial and he’s in good form,” Fownes said. “He’s on target to run a respectable race for us there. It will be nice to see where he’s at against the best in the world at the trip.
“It’s already great to get an invite to that sort of race – we’ve achieved something there – and now we just need to go and hope he can run in the first four or five and get a result.
“His 1,800m run before his last race with 135 pounds was very nice, so he’s proven he’s effective at that distance. While we’re under no illusion of how tough the race is, it will be good to get him away and see how he handles the travel. Hopefully he’ll thrive.”
The upcoming Dubai Turf competition is expected to feature 15 talented gallopers, including previous Gr.1 Hong Kong Cup runner-up,Luxembourg, three-time Gr.1 champion, Nashwa, and Lord North, who is aiming for his fourth consecutive win in the tournament.
Straight Arron and Voyage Bubble will be traveling to Dubai on Tuesday, along with Sight Success and California Spangle, who will compete in the Gr.1 Al Quoz Sprint. During a turf trial held last Friday, Ka Ying Generation, who is set to participate in the Hong Kong Derby, finished just a neck behind Straight Arron. Jockey Andrea Atzeni expressed satisfaction with the horse's progress leading up to the final stage of the Classic Series.
“I’m happy with him and he finished the trial quite nicely,” Atzeni said. “He seems to have come on after his last run.
“We are trying to teach him to get out of the gates a little bit better. He’s a horse who needs to be quite prominent because he stays very well and you can’t afford to be too far back.
“We know he gets the 2,000m well and if he gets a break and a good pitch, I think he can run a very big race in the Derby.”