Australian Sprinter Artorius Aiming For Glory At Royal Ascot

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00:00Royal Ascot is truly an international affair with nations from across the globe represented

00:10each year, and this year's renewal is no different.

00:14One of the key talking horses is Australian sprinter Autorius, who was placed at last

00:19year's meeting.

00:20You could say he has unfinished business, and he contests the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth

00:25II Jubilee Stakes.

00:27His trainer Sam Friedman is bullish about his chances, so tells us all about them.

00:32It was probably the making of him last year, bringing him over here in an extended campaign

00:38in Europe, which was not initially the plan.

00:40It was probably to maybe have the two-run campaign, but France finished it off, and

00:45it was a good run in France.

00:46He didn't have a lot of luck, and as you'd see over here, he's a horse that just needs

00:50a few things to go right.

00:51But I think in the last 12 months we've really nailed him, and he's settling a bit closer.

00:57But his year was excellent.

00:58He went back to Australia and didn't quite come up in the spring, so we just gave him

01:01a bit more time.

01:02He won first up in a Group 1 over the 6.5 furlongs in the Canterbury Stakes, and arguably

01:09his last run was brilliant behind Animo.

01:11So he's heading into this year's race in better form than he was last year, and he

01:18seems to be ready for the task.

01:20He's probably going to race 7 or 8 kilos heavier than he did last year.

01:24He was only a 3-year-old last year, and he was weighted as an older horse, so he's stronger

01:29this time around.

01:30He's going to be better weighted.

01:31It all points to a more forward showing.

01:35It's a best sprint race in Europe, I'd say, so it's not going to be an easy task by any

01:39means, but I wouldn't swap him for anything, and he seems to be in good form.

01:44We had some unfinished business from last year, so we wanted to go a couple of places

01:48better.

01:49He and the whole team at Newgate have been brilliant to work with, and look, he's an

01:54exciting stallion that's got a good future in the breeding barn, but unfinished business

01:58here, so we were keen to show him off and show that he can match up with the best in

02:03the world.

02:04The trainer always wants the horse to stay in training for a long period of time.

02:08We feel that he's right at the peak of his powers at the moment.

02:12I'd love to see him in a race like the Everest in 2023.

02:16Ultimately that'll be up to Henry and the team.

02:19He's just a good horse who's really starting to work it all out now, from beyond the race

02:24on the Saturday, and we'll just get through that and then we'll work out a plan.

02:28Last year was that little unknown, he was a little more lightly raced, he wasn't as

02:32experienced the first time away, so you're a little nervous.

02:35This time around I think we're confident that he's the right horse for the race, he's got

02:40the right form.

02:41I wouldn't swap him for anything there, so I'm feeling good about it all.

02:45Henry's got the whole team coming over, so they're coming to Newmarket on the Thursday

02:49morning to watch him have a canter.

02:53They're all very excited, so it's brilliant, I mean that's what horse ownership's all about.

02:58They'll all come over and enjoy the race day, win, lose or draw, hopefully we've got a trophy

03:01to celebrate with at the end of the day, but he's got them all fired up and they're all

03:07ready to hit the track.

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