Emirates Stakes winner Tosen Stardom bypasses a trip to Hong Kong this December with quarantine requirements forcing the Darren Weir-trained Emirates Stakes winner to remain in Australia with an eye to next autumn’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2018.
Tosen Stardom bypasses Hong Kong in December being saved for an autumn return targeting the 2017 Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
The Australian Bloodstock-owned Japanese import took his career earnings up over $3.34 million on November 11, rounding out his Melbourne Cup Carnival with a one and a half-length success in the Group 1 $2 million Emirates Stakes (2000m).
That was just the second win down under for the seven-year-old Deep Impact entire who earlier broke his maiden status in Australian on October 14 in the Group 1 $500,000 Toorak Handicap (1600m).
Originally the team at Australian Bloodstock were keen to head to Sha Tin for the lucrative Hong Kong International Race Day in December, but instead Tosen Stardom has been sent to the paddock ahead of the autumn.
A change in government regulations forces any Hong Kong-bound horses to spend 180 days in quarantine.
Jamie Lovett from Australian Bloodstock said that could mean an end to Tosen Stardom’s Australian racing career and, with a stud deal pending, a final campaign down under in the autumn was important.
“We were prepared to go to Hong Kong but it would mean that he probably wouldn’t race here in Australia again,” he told Racing Victoria.
“We are close to completing a stud deal for the horse and this is likely to be his last season.
“So if we went to Hong Kong, we would miss the autumn and winter and that would be it basically.
“There is a lot of prizemoney on offer here, he can race for about $7 million in the autumn so it was decided to pull up stumps now and hopefully he comes back fit and well early next year.”
The major autumn target for Tosen Stardom is the Group 1 $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) run at Royal Randwick in mid-April, a race won this year by the world’s best mare Winx.
Winx won the Group 1 $1 million George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill in her final Queen Elizabeth Stakes lead-up, a race that has produced four winners of the latter since 2009.
To back Tosen Stardom next race and access all the top early autumn racing odds and offers, head to Ladbrokes.com.au today.
