Japanese import Ambitious is set to make his Australian debut in the Group 1 $500,000 italktravel Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 24.
Black Heart Bart, above winning the 2017 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Ambitious is the winner of five of his sixteen race starts in Japan with his latest victory being in April 2016 in the Group 2 JPY¥128,820,000 The Sankei Osaka Hai (2000m) at Hanshin.
The six year old will be having his first run back since finishing fifteenth in the and trainer Anthony Freedman took him to the Caulfield race day on Wednesday to let him get familiarized with the Australian racing seen.
“We just wanted to see how he handled the race day in Australia,” Freedman told AAP.
“I just wanted to get him used to everything.
“He’s handled it really well, the heat and the flies.
“He walked in a few of the (pre-parade) rings.
“He handled the whole day really well.”
Freedman didn’t go home from Caulfield emptied handed and was very impressed with Bedford’s six lengths win in the $40,000 Ladbrokes Up For The Challenge BenchMark 70 Handicap (2000m).
“He was impressive,” Freedman said.
“He’s probably surprised us a bit today. We’ll see if we can go to a better race and see how he stacks up.
“Today was a benchmark 70. I thought he was better than that but on that today, with a bit more maturity he might get to a nice level.”
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