Assistant-trainer Ricardo Le Grange could not take his eyes off Emperor’s Banquet at Tuesday’s barrier trials.
From the moment jockey Nooresh Juglall jumped on the soon-to-resume galloper in the holding area, the South African horseman kept watch as the 2015 Group 3 Fortune Bowl (2000m) winner warmed up for a couple of laps in the trotting ring before heading out for his first barrier trial since a condylar fracture put him on the sidelines for five months.
It is an injury eerily similar to Patrick Shaw’s superstar Rocket Man’s, except that it was on the off-foreleg for the dual International Group 1 winner and Emperor’s Banquet’s sustained his on the near foreleg.
“Emperor's Banquet had a similar injury to Rocket Man, a condylar fracture on his near foreleg shortly after he trialled (March 10) following his second place to Quechua in this year’s Fortune Bowl,” said Shaw’s right-hand man.
“He was operated on March 16 and had one screw put in. As you know, horses can come back from such injuries, and luckily, Emperor’s Banquet seems to be one of them.”
Juglall took the seven-year-old son of Holy Roman Emperor for a quiet spin in the 1000m jumpout finishing seventh just under eight lengths off speed merchant Sebas (Kif Toh).
“It was a very good run; He was not out to break any records. We just wanted to work on his fitness,” said Le Grange after the workout.
“We will x-ray him either this afternoon or tomorrow morning to make sure he is okay. This is what we have to do with such injuries, exactly what we did with Rocket Man.
“If all is good, he will then continue to get ready, with probably another couple of trials. We haven’t decided on a comeback date yet, but obviously, the Gold Cup is a race he would be going for.
“If he comes back to form, you can be sure he will be a lively contender.”
Raced by the Tmen Stable, Emperor’s Banquet has run twice in the Group 1 Longines Singapore Gold Cup (2200m), clocking in second to stablemate Quechua in 2014 before running sixth to another Shaw galloper in Cooptado last year.
Juglall, who was the partner at one of Emperor’s Banquet’s wins, jumped off with a positive report on the gelding.
“He put his head down the moment he jumped and was very well put-together throughout,” said the bang-in-form Mauritian jockey who chalked up a career-best five winners on Friday.
“He trialled very well and I’m very happy to see him back. I hope everything goes well for him from this and he gets better and better.”
