RAKTI (Polish Precedent) will try to move one finishing position up in
Sunday’s Hong Kong Cup (HK-G1) over last year when he ran second. The
five-year-old opened 2004 with a victory over POWERSCOURT (GB) (Sadler’s Wells)
in the Prince of Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, but finished off the board
in both the Eclipse S. (Eng-G1) in July and the Irish Champion S. (Ire-G1) in
September. He rebounded when dropped back to 1600 meters for the Queen Elizabeth
II S. (Eng-G1), but ran 14th after a very slow start in the Mile Championship
(Jpn-G1).
“Once in the stalls, he falls asleep,” owner Gary Tanaka said. “He leans on
the side and he can often miss the break, sometimes badly like he did last time.
Once he missed the start, (jockey Philip Robinson) knew the game was up and
didn’t go too hard on him at the end.
“I’m told he came out of the race fine and I’m expecting another big, big run
in Hong Kong,” Tanaka added. “He has proven that he likes the track and he is
definitely best when going right-handed, so I’m pretty hopeful.”
A trio of three-year-old fillies will challenge Rakit for top honors in the
Cup. ALEXANDER GOLDRUN (Gold Away [Ire]), with six wins and four seconds from 14
starts, returned from a three-month layoff to take the Prix de l’Opera (Fr-G1).
She will be joined in the gate by LATICE (Inchinor [GB]), winner of the Prix de
Diane (Fr-G1) and beaten about four lengths when seventh in the Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe (Fr-G1), and DANCE IN THE MOOD (Sunday Silence), who was second in the
American Oaks (G1) and Tenno Sho Autumn (Jpn-G1) and runner-up again in the Mile
Championship at Kyoto.