Connections of Twice Over, J J the Jet Plane express
confidence
Henry Cecil-trained horses have triumphed all over the world, including in
some of the most prestigious events in racing’s calendar. The $10 million Dubai
World Cup (UAE-G1), however has so far eluded him, but he hopes to change that
this Saturday when he saddles the Khalid Abdulla-owned TWICE OVER (GB)
(Observatory).
With more than 125 horses to look after at his home in Newmarket, which by
the way includes Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) and Epsom Derby (Eng-G1)favorite
Frankel (Galileo [Ire]), he only made it out to Dubai on Thursday.
Friday morning, Cecil was on hand to see Twice Over canter under jockey Tom
Queally.
“I’m very happy with him and he looks really well,” Cecil said. “Because of
his prep race, he has learned to handle the course and got used to it. He seems
to be very well balanced and is getting used to it. So hopefully things will
work out.”
Having Twice Over out early in Dubai was quite a change in tactics from last
year when Twice Over only arrived in Dubai a few days before the Dubai World
Cup. At the time, his trainer fancied him a lot, but in the end, he could only
finish 10th behind Gloria de Campeao (Brz).
“I thought he would win last year,” Cecil admitted. “But he did get a bad
bump and he couldn’t get in. Whether that was the reason I don’t know. He didn’t
win.”
This season, Twice Over arrived much earlier in Dubai to run in the Maktoum
Challenge Round 3 (UAE-G2), which he won convincingly from World Cup rival Musir
(Redoute’s Choice).
“The idea was to bring him over here and settle him in and get him into a
race,” Cecil explained. “If he hadn’t handled the surface or hadn’t settled, I
would have brought him right back. He seemed to do everything very nicely. He
had a good blow on the backstretch and a good blow afterwards. But he seems to
have come on a lot. Obviously he deserves to take his chance in the big one.
“He’s wintered really well. Ever since Christmas he’s had a really lovely
gentle preparation, I worked out day by day what we are going to do. So he came
over here early and had his prep race. He acclimatized and he’s got used to the
track and surface and is definitely in great form and moving very well. I think
he is in great shape.”
The horse seems to be spot on, but the draw once again went against him when
Twice Over was drawn 12. Cecil admitted to being a little bit disappointed.
“Hopefully, now that he has adapted himself to the track, he will cope with
it better now,” the horseman commented. “I think he is definitely better than
last year.”
And then he corrected himself and said, “No, I know he is better than last
year.”
For the 10-time champion trainer, that is quite a statement. But then again,
why shouldn’t he be a bit bullish. After all, he has saddled 24 classic winners,
holds the record of the most Royal Ascot winners and in 2010 his strike rate of
22 percent was among the highest.
“He’s improved with age,” Cecil said. “He’s had a history of bad feet, and we
changed his shoes to a sort of stick-on shoe. He hasn’t got much hoof to put
nails into, and before it was as if he was like someone going around in shoes
half a size too small. My blacksmith Stephen has done a very good job with him,
and I feel Twice Over’s action has improved, he moves better now at the trot,
and in all his paces really.
“He has worked on the main track for the last three weeks, and
he is taking the bends better and is not changing his legs. He is definitely
better this year than last but whether he is good enough, who knows? It is a
difficult race to win and the opposition is tough but I think he has a great
chance.
“A race like the Dubai World Cup is always going to be hard to win, but if
they go a good gallop, then I think he’ll have a great chance. I wouldn’t swap
him for any of the others in the race, but then I don’t know all that much about
them, I just tend to concentrate on my own horses. There’ll be no excuses this
time.”
In England, he is a legend and a victory of Twice Over in the Dubai World Cup
would only confirm that he is a truly remarkable horseman. Yet Cecil is quick to
point out that it is not only down to him when his horses do well, but to the
entire team.
“It is important that Tom was here to ride him as I was at home where I had a
lot of work to do. Luckily I have a very good team here. I had to train him over
the telephone. My wife Jane came out a bit early and reports everything back to
me. And I can change things. I have kept to the schedule I have, but you can
always change things a little bit, like canter over five furlongs or six
furlongs. I can’t train 125 horses at home and one here, so I had to delegate.
But luckily I have a very good team.”
With that many victories to his name, one wonders how important the Dubai
World Cup is to him, but he immediately made it very clear what it meant to him.
“It would be lovely to win this race, also for his owner and the entire team.
All Group 1 races are important and the Dubai World Cup would be great to win.”
The connections of Al Quoz Sprint (UAE-G2) favorite J J THE JET PLANE (Jet
Master) remain notably upbeat ahead of Saturday’s race. He’s a rightful headline
act — a six-time Group 1 winner, three-time South African champion, and the
second highest-ranked turf sprinter in the world, all deeds and titles that add
significant expectations.
Arriving in Dubai in mid-December following his victory in the Hong Kong
Sprint (HK-G1), the seven-year-old gelding had just two runs during the Dubai
International Racing Carnival: an unplaced start at about six furlongs on the
all-weather on February 17, before a dominant win back on the turf in a $175,000
handicap on March 10.
“He has super talent and is an absolute natural,” trainer Michael “Lucky”
Houdalakis said of his champion galloper this week. “He’s very well, and my only
concern is the distance — maybe 1000 meters (about five furlongs) is a little
on the short side for him these days.”
Houdalakis has a long history with J J the Jet Plane. Having trained the
horse with success in South Africa as a two-year-old, the owners decided to
campaign the horse overseas. Houdalakis felt he didn’t have the experience
required and handed his multiple Group 1 winner over to globetrotting South
African trainer Mike de Kock.
After some initial success, J J the Jet Plane lost form and found his way
back to Houdalakis in South Africa. The rest — including the revival of the
horse’s talents and another three Group 1 trophies for the cabinet — is, as
they say, history.
One member of the J J the Jet Plane team particularly enthusiastic about the
horse’s prospects in Saturday’s race is regular work rider and the traveling
foreman Everisto Nyambo.
“If he doesn’t win by three or five lengths on Saturday, then the jockey
hasn’t ridden him properly given how he feels right now,” Nyambo states
candidly.
“When you ride (J J) out in the morning and come onto the backstretch at the
400 meters (about a quarter-mile) he starts to pull and is hard to hold. After
the work you can feel how happy he is. He jumps around and shows you how much he
is enjoying it. You know he’s ready.”
An integral part of the J J the Jet Plane success story since 2006, Nyambo is
fiercely proud of the horse he takes care of and is unashamedly bullish about
his charge’s race chances.
“He really likes it here and is even better than he was in Hong Kong when he
won. He’s a lovely horse; he is really kind. I treat him like a son. Yes he
bites too much but you know, he is just playing!”
JJ the Jet Plane has provided the former Zimbabwean national with more than a
weighty scrapbook of success stories to give to his children; he has given this
South African work rider a valuable window to the world.
The first to admit that the glittering backdrop of Dubai is a starkly
different backdrop to the horse yard where the then 12-year-old used to muck out
boxes to help his three brothers during school holidays, Nyambo says it is
“really amazing” to work the horse on a track where so many star gallopers also
train.
The now 37-year-old father of two who, as a child, taught himself to ride on
young unbroken Thoroughbreds with only a head collar and lead as his “bridle,”
admits that he had never been outside his home town before he became involved
with this horse.
“Now I have been traveling with J J since last August when he went into
quarantine for Hong Kong and I am with him every day. I am able to see the world
and it has been fantastic. There are lots of places in Dubai to visit. It’s lots
of fun. I feel like a kid!”
Nyambo says that there will be a lot of pressure on the owners and trainers
of the horse on Saturday, but for him: “Well, it will be a fantastic day!
“This horse means everything to me,” he said. “This journey has been so
exciting. People in South Africa know who I am because of this horse. After
Dubai we will head to Singapore then hopefully Ascot. This horse is taking all
of us places we have never been before. It’s a challenge, but the horse is our
hope.”