By Alan Carasso
Having arrived in Hong Kong in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Chautauqua (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) made his first trip to the track Wednesday as he begins his preparations for the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize Sunday week.
The world's top-rated sprinter according to the most recent Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, Chautauqua took out the G1 Manikato S. last October and was just touched off in the G1 Darley Classic the following month. He was an intended runner in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint last December, but ultimately passed on the trip and has since won the G1 Lightning S. in Melbourne and most recently successfully defended his title in the G1 T J Smith S. in Sydney with a tremendous last-to-first burst beneath Tommy Berry. Co-trainer Michael Hawkes is overseeing the 5-year-old's lead-up to the Chairman's.
“He lost a little weight on the flight over but I'm not too worried about that,” the conditioner commented. “He was quite bright when he got off the plane and I'm sure he'll pick up over the next two or three days. The main thing is that we are here. We wanted to come last December but he just wasn't 100% then. He's in great shape now and the important thing now is to get him to relax and acclimatised in the new environment. We'll go easy with him in the next few days.”
The task facing Chautauqua in the Chairman's Sprint Prize figures to be no easy one, as the world's second- through fourth-rated sprinters are also likely to take their spots. That group includes Aerovelocity (NZ) (Pins {Aus}); compatriot Buffering (Aus) (Mossman {Aus}), victorious in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint; and Not Listenin'tome (Aus) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}).
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