Article Directory :: Sports & Recreation Articles

Takeover Target: Australian Thoroughbred

By K Cummings

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 04Jan2012 Word count: 671 Viewed: 164 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

It can be said that sprinters, of any species, embody the truest form of pure athleticism. A competitor either possesses the capacity for speed, or not. Training of any sort may serve to enhance natural ability, but absolutely will not suffice as a substitute.

This is especially true in the case of thoroughbred racehorses in this day and age of specialization. There are the stayers that dominate the track starting around 2000 metres and beyond. There are the middle distance runners that thrive in the 1600 to 2000 metre range. Then there are the speed demons known as sprinters that shine at distances up to around 1600 metres.

The sprinters must be born fast. No one, not Gai Waterhouse, T. J. Smith or Bart Cummings himself, can magically impart speed if it's not there to begin with.

When present, however, pure speed can overcome all manner of challenge, including humble origins and injuries, and one of the truer examples of this reality exists in the story and career of a brown gelding foaled in 1999, Takeover Target.

Takeover Target hails from Meringo Stud Farm, NSW, and was/is owned by Messrs. Joseph and Benjamin Janiak and trained by Joseph Janiak.

He was sired by Brit Celtic Swing out of native Shade Stream. His bloodline is predominantly northern hemisphere and includes connections with Native Dancer and Neararctic.

He was purchased practically with change found between the sofa cushions for $1250. By the time he finished up, he had raked in over 6 million in prize money, a return on investment that is almost incomprehensible in scope.

On top of that, he was plagued by injuries early on, throughout his career for that matter, and did not truly reach form until his four-year-old season.

From that point on, he was generally acknowledged to as the head of the sprinter class. He was dubbed Australian Champion Sprinter in 2006 to go along with an IFHA rating of 121. That same year found him named Global Sprint Challenge Champion. He was declared Australian Champion International Performer three years running, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

By the time the ink was dry on his running record, Takeover Target somehow managed 41 starts, of which 21 were winners, a 51% winning strike rate. Coupled with 6 second and fourth third-place finishes, that produces an overall 75% strike rate!

Fifteen of Takeover Target's wins were over 1200 metres, and he typically drew weights exceeding 60 kg. With the exception of a few barrier trials in 2003 and 2004, and the notable instance of the Group 1 T. J. Smith Open in 2009, where Nash Rawiller took the ride and received the win, Takeover Target was ridden exclusively by Jay Ford, who undoubtedly had his profile lifted as a result.

Takeover Target's most notable wins were the 2006 Lightning Stakes and Newmarket Handicap, along with the Doomben 10,000 in 2007. Four other Group 1 victories grace his resume.

He also proved himself anything but a homer. In 2006, he represented his homeland with great credit, taking the King's Stand Stakes at Britain's Royal Ascot Carnival. He then displayed prowess in winning the Sprinter Stakes on Japanese turf.

The year 2008 also featured Takeover Target globetrotting to win in Singapore and performing admirably again in England, despite running on damaged ligaments.

Back home, he dethroned reigning sprint champion Apache Cat over 1200 metres in the Winterbottom Stakes.

2009 represented Takeover Target's curtain call. He took the post in the Goodwood Stakes in Adelaide after the aforementioned T. J. Smith Stakes two weeks previous, then again ventured overseas, where illness and injury once again hampered his performance.

Takeover Target was retired in 2009 after surgery and is stabled at Living Legends in Greenville, Victoria.

One can speculate about what kind of stud fees Takeover Target could have commanded, but since he was gelded, the issue is moot, and could be countered by the argument that if he had been kept whole, he might never have reached the level of performance that undoubtedly has the Janiaks feeling very adequately compensated indeed

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by K Cummings

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy Now:

Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!
Click For Details