KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY: The group two Villiers Stakes at Randwick today is unlikely to be the final Sydney appearance of champion sprinter Takeover Target.
Trainer Joe Janiak said the speedster was likely to remain for the revamped autumn carnival.
Janiak has a couple of autumn plans, including Melbourne, mapped out for the international sprint king who drew barrier eight, the widest for the Randwick 1400m feature.
"I doubt this will be the last time he'll race here [Sydney]," Janiak said last night.
The Victorian Department of Primary Industries still has bans in place on horses from New South Wales, except under strict quarantine conditions, in the wake of the equine influenza (EI) outbreak.
"Even if they give us permission to race there, I think we could stay in Sydney and go for races like the TJ Smith Stakes," Janiak said.
"But I haven't spoken to the Victorian authorities yet and I'm just worried about the quarantine rules here, and once we get those out of the way he'll probably go for a spell."
Takeover Target, who has the topweight of 61kg today, is currently domiciled in Sydney where he has won his past two starts leading up to the Villiers.
The eight-year-old was put through his paces at Randwick on Tuesday with race jockey Jay Ford in the saddle. "He's going good, he did well in the gallop and is doing everything right," Janiak said.
"The trip's not the worry, he'll run the 1400 out easy enough. The weight is the concern," he said.
Janiak has plans to run Takeover Target in the KrisFlyer International Sprint in Singapore on May 18, before making another assault on Royal Ascot in June.
* The EI outbreak has forced a revamp of the Australian Jockey Club's autumn carnival which will be run five weeks later than the usual Easter week and has been shortened from four days to three.
- AAP
