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ALKAASED PRIMED FOR CHAMPION CHALLENGE 7 October 2005
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| Luca Cumani today reported
Alkaased, who was a late absentee from last Sunday's Arc after a small cut became infected, back to full health and all set to run in the £350,000 Emirates Airline Champion Stakes (Group 1) at Newmarket, the highlight of Champions' Day on Saturday, October 15. "He's fully recovered, in great form and is highly likely to run in the Champion, though not if the ground came up soft," said Cumani, who added that he was not at all concerned about the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Group 1) winner dropping back from 12 to 10 furlongs, a distance which he has never actually raced over before. The five-year-old showed significant improvement throughout last season when he won the Old Newton Cup at Haydock and a Listed race at Goodwood. He started this season with a victory in his first Group 2 race, the Jockey Club Stakes, at Newmarket in May. He was second to Yeats in the Vodafone Coronation Cup at Epsom prior to his Saint-Cloud victory and, following a break, warmed up for the Arc with second place in the Prix Foy at Longchamp last month. Newmarket's Clerk of the Course, Michael Prosser, commented: "The Champion has the makings of a cracking contest, with Oratorio looking to win another big 10- furlong race following his victories in the Eclipse and Irish Champion, and the likes of Motivator and Rakti also still possible contenders. It's our biggest raceday of the year and overall the highest class raceday in the British calendar, with two Group 1s, two Group 2s and two Group 3s, plus the totesport Cesarewitch." For more information: Alistair Haggis, Newmarket's Press Officer, 07884 026 487 |