Takeover Target took Jay Ford on the ride of his life and the jockey will attempt to win the race named after the sprinting champion at Gosford on Friday.
Ford, who rides the Joe Pride-trained Title in Friday’s Listed $100,000 feature, won the Listed Pacesetter Stakes on Takeover Target in 2004 at the gelding’s first foray into stakes racing.
It was the beginning of an amazing journey for Ford and owner-trainer Joe Janiak, with Takeover Target amassing more than $6 million in prizemoney courtesy of big race successes in Australia and abroad.
Ford partnered Takeover Target to victories in every mainland state of Australia as well as in England, Japan and Singapore.
The Pacesetter was renamed the Takeover Target Stakes (1200m) in 2009 and last year Ford led the field out on board the popular sprinter before the eight-time Group One winner completed an exhibition gallop to the cheers of the crowd.
This time the jockey is hoping he can cause an upset win on Title, with impressive last-start June Stakes winner Squamosa dominating betting.
Ford has won three times from five rides on Title including a last-start Randwick victory over 1400m on June 11.
“It would be very nice to win a race that was named after a horse I rode through his career,” Ford said.
“That would be great to do.
“The Pacesetter was his (Takeover Target) fifth start in a race and the first stakes test of his career.
“He went on to bigger and better things from there.”
Making Title’s assignment tougher is a wide draw, with the sprinter to jump from the outside of the field following the scratching of Sacred Orders who had the widest gate (15).
“He went off the boil for a little while there earlier this year but his last few runs have been good,” Ford said.
“He is going back from 1400 to 1200 metres but he should still have plenty of sharpness there in the legs and I’m not too concerned about the wide barrier because he’s a roll-forward horse anyway.
“There seems to be decent speed so hopefully we can get across and get a little bit of cover early.
“It’s going to be hard with Squamosa in the race but he is going well and certainly is entitled to get his chance in a stakes race for the first time.”
The winner of six of his 16 starts, Title is at $14 with TAB Sportsbet.
Squamosa, with Nash Rawiller to ride, is at $1.50 on the back of his nearly five-length June Stakes demolition job while last year’s winner Border Rebel is the only other runner under double-figure odds at $8.50.
AAP TURF
