Racehorse A Shin Hikari primed to give Japan historic win at Ascot

A Shin Hikari is in prime form and ready to become the first Japanese horse to win at British flat racing's showpiece festival Royal Ascot, his trainer says.

The horse is one of several from Asia and the United States who can threaten the established order of the finest thoroughbreds the English, Irish and French send out and all in front of noted racing enthusiast Queen Elizabeth II, no stranger herself to visiting the winners' enclosure.

A Shin Hikari pushed himself to the forefront of the betting for Wednesday's Group One Prince of Wales's Stakes with a stunning performance under veteran Japanese jockey Yutaka Take in the Group One Prix d'Ispahan at Chantilly last month on heavy ground.

Trainer Masanori Sakaguchi, who will be anxiously surveying the skies because he does not want soft ground for his stable star at Ascot, sounded a warning to his rivals after he watched a final serious pre-race training gallop at Chantilly.

"I think he has progressed and that he's in better condition than before the Prix d’Ispahan," Sakaguchi told The Racing Post.

"I suppose I was a little bit surprised he was able to produce a performance like that (the Ispahan).

"I expected him to lead at Chantilly, but the horse remained mentally strong with the change of tactics (Take decided to come from behind instead), and the way he finished was extraordinary."

A Shin Hikari shouldn't encounter any traffic problems if Take decides once again to forego pace-setting duties, with less than 10 rivals set to take him on.Irish master trainer Aidan O'Brien's filly Found, a well-beaten second at Epsom last time out, is the likeliest major obstacle to him going one better than compatriot Agnes World's runners-up spot in the King's Stand Stakes at the 2000 meeting.

Hong Kong too have a strong contender for major honours in hoary veteran seven-year-old Gold-Fun, trained by Englishman Richard Gibson and set for the Group One sprint The Diamond Jubilee Stakes on Saturday, the final day of the five-day extravaganza.

Gibson, who began his training career in France before decamping to Hong Kong, is confident of a good showing from the sprinter whose battle-hardened experience will count in the rough and tumble of a sprint up the Ascot straight.

"I don't have any worries about him handling the track there," he told the Racing Post.

- 'Nothing comes close' -

America could get the non-European challenge off the mark on the opening day on Tuesday with the Wesley Ward-trained Acapulco -- who won the two-year-old race the Queen Mary at the meeting last year -- in the King's Stand Stakes. 

Acapulco's chances have been done no harm by having Ryan Moore on his back as the American challenger is owned by among others Michael Tabor and Sue Magnier, who provide him with the majority of his rides out of the O'Brien stable.The classiest race of the week, though, will not feature any "gatecrashers" from far afield.

The St James's Palace Stakes over a mile will bring together the winners of the French, Irish and English 2000 Guineas in O'Brien's The Gurkha, veteran Kevin Prendergast's Awtaad and Hugo Palmer's Galileo Gold respectively.

As for racing's most high-profile personality, Frankie Dettori, the effervescent Italian believes he has a couple of potential winners on a track where he famously rode the "Magnificent Seven" winners in 1996, although that was on Champions Day, not the Royal meeting.

The 45-year-old -- who broke the 50-winner mark at the Royal meeting last year but trails way behind overall leader Lester Piggott's astonishing total of 116 -- says there is no festival like it.

"It is my biggest week of the year," Dettori told The Sun.

Source :AFP