Warp Speed has shown good recovery after his narrow second in the Melbourne Cup and will head back to Japan on Monday having proven he could be a threat in overseas races in 2025.
Noboru Takagi’s stayer went within inches of becoming Japan’s second Melbourne Cup winner on Tuesday after jockey Akira Sugawara produced a lovely come-from-behind run.
“The horse pulled up fine, he went through the race really well and has no cuts or anything,” the stable’s Australian-based track rider and translator Kosi Kawakami told Idol Horse. “He is great and everybody is really happy and proud of his run.”
It was a top training performance from Takagi’s team on the ground, which included Kawakami, assistant trainer Isao Nakagaki and another Australian-based horseman Shiny Mori.
Warp Speed was a disappointing 13th in the Caulfield Cup but a couple of gallops in the lead-up to the Melbourne Cup clearly had the horse ready to run to his best, although firmer ground on Tuesday certainly helped.
Takagi was overseeing Ushba Tesoro’s Breeders’ Cup Classic bid (he finished 10th) and didn’t arrive in Melbourne until race-eve.
“We had obviously been talking to him over the phone and we discussed our galloping plan between the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup,” Kawakami said. “In those two good gallops in between his races, he felt great. I was quite confident that he actually improved a lot from the Caulfield Cup and that he was ready to rock and roll.
“Basically, we had to forget about the Caulfield Cup run. It was a rain-affected track and what I would describe as ‘gluey’ ground. The horse just never experienced that type of ground, like a lot of the Japanese horses.
“He doesn’t really like the wet ground anyway but then on that gluey ground he just had no hope. But he didn’t really let down, so there wasn’t much fatigue or anything from the run because he couldn’t actually go.”
Warp Speed will now have some easy days before his flight home, where Takagi can plot his next overseas target with a host of lucrative options in the new year that include the G3 Red Sea Turf Handicap (3000m) in Saudi Arabia, a race won by Japanese stayer Silver Sonic in 2023.
“He walked this morning and he’s probably going to just hand walk again tomorrow,” Kawakami said. “I’m going to ride him Friday to see how he pulls up and then he will have another couple of nice easy days on Saturday and Sunday, then fly back to Japan on Monday.”
Despite the narrow second Kawakami said there was more joy than disappointment in the Japanese camp post race.
“We had a big group of owners that came here and lots of friends,” he said. “It was very exciting to be part of the race that stops a nation. They had a really good day.” ∎
