‘He’s really come of age’ – Price and Kent Jnr seek big prizes at Pakenham and Randwick
Inveterate winner Taken (Ardrossan) has the chance to prove he’s the real deal when he faces his sternest test to date in Pakenham’s $1 million slot race, The Supernova (1400m), on Saturday.
And while not underestimating the size of his task as he rises to open company under set weights conditions, trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr are confident the four-year-old won’t let his connections down.
Bought privately as a youngster by Price – who formerly trained the gelding’s Waikato Stud-based sire Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) – and bearing the blue with the red V of managing owner Carl Holt, Taken was promising but frustrating through an initial campaign last spring.
From four runs he notched four minor placings, including a Moonee Valley second and a Caulfield third, and culminating in a second over 1200 metres at Pakenham as a short-priced favourite.
That last script was repeated when he returned from a spell in April, but since then, the penny appears to have dropped with a loud clink, with Taken unbeaten in his five subsequent starts.
He won his maiden over 1400 metres at Pakenham, before taking three three-year-old handicaps in metro class over 1600 metres, one at Sandown and two at Flemington.
While four straight wins is impressive in any grade, his resuming run on November 15 particularly stamped Taken’s quality.
Lining up in a 1400-metre Caulfield Benchmark 84 under 58 kilograms, Taken jumped from gate three for Ethan Brown but found himself three-wide without cover from the 1000 metres to the 600 metres just off the leading division, running seventh of 13, and was four wide from then on.
But he kept coming in the straight to eventually nab leader Catoggio (Written Tycoon) on the line, keeping his winning run intact with a 0.06–length victory.
The win was even more meritorious considering Taken resumed after only one jump-out, with another planned hit-out thwarted when a set of trials was cancelled.
“We missed a trial going in because of wet weather,” Kent Jnr told ANZ News. “Horses don’t win often when resuming after just one trial and sitting three-wide without cover. He did it very tough in running and while he didn’t win by a big margin, he still got it done.
“Early on, he was beaten favourite a couple of times and it took him six starts to win his maiden. But now, he doesn’t like to lose. He’s really come of age.
“I was still a bit on the fence after his three-year-old campaign. He was winning, but you’re beating up on moderate opposition in the winter as a three-year-old.
“But the way he’s returned has given me a lot of confidence he’s ready to go on with it. To win in that manner first-up, that gives me confidence that there’s more to come with him.”
Bred by New Zealand’s Bruce Perry and four fellow shareholders in Ardrossan, out of unraced mare Katherine Wright (Henrythenavigator), Taken showed ability early on, Kent Jnr said, but lacked power.
“He was very immature in that first campaign. He had a good frame with not much body,” Kent Jnr said. “So because he was lacking that strength, he wasn’t able to put races away. He was still building his confidence and perfecting his craft.
“When he was placed at Caulfield in that prep, Mick questioned whether he had a strong 1400 metres in him. We brought him back to 1200 and he was beaten again.
“As he’s developed, the 1400 and the mile are no problem. Ethan Brown suggested last start we shouldn’t be afraid to try 2000. If he can get further than a mile, that’ll really open doors for him.”
Taken will attempt by far his toughest mission at start No.11 in the second edition of Pakenham’s lucrative Supernova. Holt owns a slot in the race, which has led to the gelding being sent in against several more proven rivals.
Bookmakers have him on the fourth line of betting at around the $12 mark. Joe Pride’s warhorse Private Eye (Al Maher) is a $2.10 favourite, running in the Ladbrokes slot. Last year’s winner Here To Shock (Shocking) is at $8 in the Carvallo Park slot. Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel) is at $10, running in the slot of his trainers Lindsay Park, while OTI slot runner Zou Sensation (Zoustar) is also at $10.
Taken has the second-lowest rating in the field, on 86, so isn’t particularly well suited with 57.5 kilograms under the set weights scale, though at least that may be offset by having drawn barrier two of 14 for Jamie Mott.
“He’ll need to be on his best because it’s a very good edition this year,” Kent said. “The club have done a wonderful job to attract a high quality field, and this race will get more and more popular among better horses at set weights as it goes on.
“We’re the second-lowest rated horse in the race, but we felt he deserved his chance. He’s won his past five starts and he’s very progressive, so this was the sensible option given he won first-up.
“The 1400 [metres] is on the sharp side for him. These other horses have probably got superior turns of foot than him. But he’s had four weeks between runs, to keep the edge on him.
“There looks to be good speed in the race, he’s got a soft draw, so if we can get a good smother, then that’ll help him.”
Kent Jnr said Taken was also well suited to the uphill straight at Pakenham, where he has a win and two seconds from three starts.
“That uphill straight suits strong horses,” he said.
“Whilst he strung four wins together as a three-year-old during winter, that’s very different to open company as a four-year-old. In order for a horse to progress, they have to develop physically.
“We were looking for it, and he’s come back 40 kilos heavier this time in. He’s a lot stronger and is holding his body weight better. He’s able to eat more. When horses are eating well in high intensity training, that’s important.
“He just looks fantastic, and he’s definitely come on. He’s got to really run a personal best to win a race like this, which is going to be difficult, but he’s a winner. Any horse that wins five in a row, that tells you it’s progressive.
“He couldn’t be going better, and we’re extremely happy with him.”
The Price-Kent Jnr stable has high hopes of a two-state major race double on Saturday. At Randwick, they’ll saddle another emerging four-year-old – Sabaj (Manhattan Rain) – in the $2 million The Ingham (Gr 2, 1600m).
The unfashionably bred gelding kicked off in Adelaide for Richard and Chantelle Jolly, winning his first three starts at Morphettville before seconds at Listed and Group 2 level.
Transferred to Price-Kent Jnr at Cranbourne, he resumed with a luckless sixth in the Silver Eagle (1300m) at Randwick before wins at his past two starts – in a 1600-metre Flemington Benchmark 84, and in the Cranbourne Cup (Listed, 1600m).
Like Taken in The Supernova, homebred Sabaj is the second-lowest rated horse in the 20-strong Ingham field. He’ll also start from the second-widest barrier, for Beau Mertens, but at least under the quality handicap conditions he only has to carry the minimum of 53 kilograms.
Bookmakers have him third-favourite at around $6. Ciaron Maher’s Group 1 winner Gringotts (Per Incanto) is a $4.40 favourite but has 61 kilograms and has drawn the gate outside Sabaj, while $4.80 chance Yorkshire (Snitzel), another on the minimum, has barrier 15.
“He’s great. We could not be happier with that horse,” Kent Jnr said of Sabaj.
“It’s a big task, it’s a big handicap over the Randwick mile. Twenty runners, and we’ve got an outside draw.
“But while that might be alarming to punters, I’ll take the ‘glass half full’ attitude because in all his victories he’s been back and wide down the middle of the track. That’s how he likes to race.
“He had an inside draw in the Silver Eagle and he’s still looking for a run. But in his subsequent two wins, he drew out.
“Hopefully, he won’t be too far back, but the horse couldn’t be better. It’s a tough race, but for the prize–money it’s going to be a lot of fun.
“He’s a very progressive horse, very exciting to be honest, and we’re just very lucky to have him.”