Xtravagant
Trish Dunell
The connections of New Zealand superstar Xtravagant are set to pass up the Sydney autumn carnival in favour of an historic assault on Royal Ascot in June.
Sydney's loss will be a huge gain for UK racing as the extraordinary three-year-old would be the first New Zealand-trained star to race at Royal Ascot since the famous carnival started attracting horses from the southern hemisphere over a decade ago.
Managing owner David Ellis and trainer Steve Autridge have made their UK intentions clear, stating that Xtravagant will be set to take on the world's best at Royal Ascot should he continue his impressive winning form in the $750,000 Australian Guineas at Flemington on March 5.
"The thinking is he may go to Royal Ascot if he won the Australian Guineas, and if that decision was confirmed then he wouldn't race in Sydney," Autridge said on the Te Akau Racing website.
"If you asked 'what's his pet distance' my thoughts would be 1400 to 1600 metres – I don't think there's any doubt.
"If we want him to race over ground he could go 2000 metres as a four-year-old. I think he would be the ideal Cox Plate horse."
Autridge's last comment explains whyXtravagant was not entered for the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick in April.
His only nomination for The Championships is for the $3 million Doncaster Mile (1600m).
Xtravagant would be a major Doncaster drawcard as the colt has shown freakish ability winning five of his eight starts in NZ including two stunning Group One wins by big margins in the NZ 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton and the NRM Sprint (1400m) against older horses at his latest start at Te Rapa.
His three defeats were blamed on seriously rain affected tracks, a factor that has Autridge hoping for a firm track when he gets to Melbourne.
"He still has to handle the travel to Flemington and then have the weather gods play their part with the presentation of a firm surface," Autridge said.
Autridge will not send the excitable Xtravagant to Melbourne until the Wednesday before the Australian Guineas.
"He will do all his fast work at home and have his final gallop on the Tuesday morning before we fly to Melbourne on the Wednesday night," Autridge said.
"He's a very easy horse to handle but when he walks out of his stall and suddenly sees 20 other horses he gets excited.
"He's been like a big kid but he's relaxing more and more each time he goes to the races."
Sydney's loss will be a huge gain for UK racing as the extraordinary three-year-old would be the first New Zealand-trained star to race at Royal Ascot since the famous carnival started attracting horses from the southern hemisphere over a decade ago.
Managing owner David Ellis and trainer Steve Autridge have made their UK intentions clear, stating that Xtravagant will be set to take on the world's best at Royal Ascot should he continue his impressive winning form in the $750,000 Australian Guineas at Flemington on March 5.
"The thinking is he may go to Royal Ascot if he won the Australian Guineas, and if that decision was confirmed then he wouldn't race in Sydney," Autridge said on the Te Akau Racing website.
"If you asked 'what's his pet distance' my thoughts would be 1400 to 1600 metres – I don't think there's any doubt.
"If we want him to race over ground he could go 2000 metres as a four-year-old. I think he would be the ideal Cox Plate horse."
Autridge's last comment explains whyXtravagant was not entered for the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick in April.
His only nomination for The Championships is for the $3 million Doncaster Mile (1600m).
Xtravagant would be a major Doncaster drawcard as the colt has shown freakish ability winning five of his eight starts in NZ including two stunning Group One wins by big margins in the NZ 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton and the NRM Sprint (1400m) against older horses at his latest start at Te Rapa.
His three defeats were blamed on seriously rain affected tracks, a factor that has Autridge hoping for a firm track when he gets to Melbourne.
"He still has to handle the travel to Flemington and then have the weather gods play their part with the presentation of a firm surface," Autridge said.
Autridge will not send the excitable Xtravagant to Melbourne until the Wednesday before the Australian Guineas.
"He will do all his fast work at home and have his final gallop on the Tuesday morning before we fly to Melbourne on the Wednesday night," Autridge said.
"He's a very easy horse to handle but when he walks out of his stall and suddenly sees 20 other horses he gets excited.
"He's been like a big kid but he's relaxing more and more each time he goes to the races."