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After a long drawn-out battle with injury, Hideyuki Takaoka’s stable star Jupiter Gold finally makes his racing comeback in the $250,000 Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) this Saturday.
The 2018 Emirates Singapore Derby winner is the topweight (58kgs) in the handicap feature and will concede weight all around, as much as eight kilos to up-and-comers like Rocket Star, Churchill and Gold Star.
The other daunting part might be the short trip, but Takaoka is above all happy Jupiter Gold will finally face the starter.
One has to go back to March 2019 to retrace his last start when a disappointing eighth to Debt Collector in a Class 1 race over 1400m in the build-up to the International Group 3 Kranji Mile (1600m).
Even if the distance was short of his best, much better was expected from the son of Congrats off the back of his first two encouraging starts that campaign, especially his fast-finishing third to Blizzard in the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (1400m).
The Kranji Mile still beckoned, but Jupiter Gold did his tendon on the training tracks, and hasn't been seen since.
The prognosis of four to five months on the sidelines turned out to be over-optimistic. Just when the scans were finally coming back all clear, COVID-19 struck, and then he was stymied by another ailment.
Takaoka is just keeping fingers crossed that the nine-time winner's tale of woe is ending this Saturday.
"He was coming along well, the scans of his tendons were all good, but then he had hoof problems that kept him out for two months," said Takaoka.
"If not for that, and COVID-19, he would have come back around May or June. The plan was then to run him in the Raffles Cup and the QEII (Queen Elizabeth II Cup) but we couldn't get him ready in time.
"The Gold Cup was definitely not on. The 2000m is too far for him."
To be held next Saturday week (November 21), the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) is the third and final Leg of the Singapore Triple Crown series of which the Raffles Cup and QEII Cup are the first and second Legs respectively.
On the other hand, the EW Barker Trophy has shaped up as a more realistic target even if Takaoka would have preferred longer for the seven-year-old.
"The 1400m is not his trip but for a comeback race, it's just nice," said Takaoka.
"He's just okay, he's had such a long spell – 1 ½ years - that I don't know how he will go first-up. I'm also worried about the 58kgs while other horses who are much fitter carry only 50kgs.
"He had two barrier trials and as he hasn't raced for so long, we put a bit more pressure in the second one (October 27) which he won. CC (Chin Chuen) Wong rode him in the trials and will ride him on Saturday.
"I can only hope Jupiter Gold can still show his potential. The most important is for him to pull up well and we can then plan his next races.
"It would be either the (Group 3) Colonial Chief Stakes on 1600m Polytrack on December 19 or a Class 1 race over 1400m on December 27."
