It was meant to be a day on which Lankaan Rupee and Slade Power puffed out their chests and threw down the gauntlet ahead of their potential clash in Australia in November.
The match-up in the A$1 million (Dh3.6m) VRC Sprint Classic at Flemington remains on the cards, but whereas Lankaan Rupee lines up in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes at Moonee Valley in Australia on Saturday, it is Sole Power, and not Slade Power, who will represent trainer Edward Lynam in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock about 10 hours later.
Sole Power takes his chance in the north of England tonight because stablemate Slade Power needs time to recuperate after a dose of ringworm.
The diminutive sprinter showed blistering pace to seal the Nunthorpe Stakes at York last month and will need to be at his best to come out on top against 16 rivals as he seeks his first win over 1,200 metres.
Sole Power has raced seven times over the distance without a win, with his five-lengths defeat by Lord Kanaloa in Hong Kong in December the most recent attempt to break his duck.
There is not a horse of Lord Kanaloa’s calibre in the field tonight, although defending champion and former Dubai World Cup night runner Gordon Lord Byron will not be easy to bring down.
“It’s a shame Slade Power couldn’t make it, but we’ll let him do his talking in Australia, and the fastest horse in the world isn’t a bad super sub,” said Paddy Power, son of owner Sabina Power.
“Some pundits reckon he’s better over five furlongs, but he would have won the Hong Kong Sprint over six if he hadn’t met a monster horse.”
After three wins at the highest level this year, Lankaan Rupee emerges from his winter hibernation rated as the world’s best sprinter.
Trainer Mick Price has mapped out a campaign for Lankaan Rupee, which will include the Manikato Stakes, also at Moonee Valley, next month, followed by the clash with Slade Power.
He then could cap the season with a trip to Hong Kong, where a meeting with Sole Power has been mooted.
He signed off in the Australian autumn with a bloodless success in the TJ Smith Stakes, sponsored by Darley, in which he confirmed that he is at least 10 lengths better than before he was gelded in the middle of last year.
Lankaan Rupee is the latest in a long line of Australian sprint stars, tracing back to Choisir more than a decade ago, and follows in the hoof prints of Black Caviar, who topped the rankings in 2013 after a flawless 25-race career.
Regular jockey Craig Newitt has partnered Lankaan Rupee in track work at the tight Moonee Valley racecourse in the suburbs of Melbourne this week and says his ride is better than ever.
“No horse is going to compare to the mare [Black Caviar], but he’s only got to hold his form and I can’t see him being beaten in Australia,” Newitt told the Sydney Morning Herald.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
