Oh? How big is it?

Go look. I'm sure Belmont will seem like a canter through an open meadow compared to Sha Tin.

I don't think Elliot was up there for very long before the race but I know he had some mounts at the track the day before the Belmont Stakes that year.

Sha Tin is in HK, not Japan.

I thought the plan all along had been to bring Take over for the Belmont.....

If my math is right (for circumference):

Sha Tin
1899 meters
or 1.17998 miles

Belmont
2414.016 meters
or 1.5 miles

You're right about HK, thanks. That's what I've always read the plan to be for Casino Drive. Take is one of the top jocks in the world, has ridden quality horses at tracks all over the world, and rides for this trainer regularly. It will be exciting to see him come here to ride. Who knows, maybe attendance will go up here, too <g>

PS Apacheeeeeeeee ~!

And the all weather track at Sha Tin is shorter, at 1560 meters.

:cool: :)

As an aside, anyone know how his stablemate back home is doing?

His name is Tiger Mask (same owner) and all his $ earned goes to charity (an orphanage).

Just wondering..... it's hard finding news from the JRA at times...

Can't we reasonably expect him to show up a week or two (or more) prior and catch a few mounts and gain some experience before the big one?

The Victoria Mile is on the 18th.....

No way will he miss that, especially with Vodka entered.

Yeah...

Apparently this pesron thinks that Take is planning on swimming to the States, then walking the rest of the way to Belmont Park after the race over there. If thats the case then she is right...3 weeks might not be long enough.

Yes but I'm busy getting my dates all mixed up right now... :D

As an aside, the Japanese Oaks is May 25th and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) is on June 1st.....

Hard to see him missing either...

Look at the turns and chutes leading into it, and the setup of the track itself (downtown, the stands, highrises next to it, etc) I'm sure Take has more than enough experience on the various big stages of the world to handle Belmont.

One other thing I noticed about Casino Drive (and his entry mate in the Peter Pan) is that nobody has yet mentioned the medication thing - which sorta surprises me.

Fernando Jara would be a good choice

Info, maps, etc on the racecourses in Japan, for anyone interested.....

http://japanracing.jp/course/j-racecourse.html