Dubai: Japanese champion jockey Yutaka Take believes the combination of handling ease and strategy will see Kane Hekili winning tomorrow's Dubai World Cup.
"Kane Hekili is so easy to handle. He is a multi-strategy horse and these two factors should be important in putting us up on the winner's pedestal on Saturday," Take told Gulf News yesterday.
"I think he's got the best chance to win on Saturday," Take said.
The Makoto Kaneko-owned Kane Hekili has been drawn to start from Gate 3 in tomorrow's main race.
Voted Japan's 'Dirt Horse of the Year in 2005', Kane Hekili made a stylish 2006 debut when he landed the February S Group 1 in near-record time in Tokyo last month.
The race had been billed as the ideal prep race for the four-year-old Japanese champion.
Take, who enjoys a celebrity status back home almost like a David Beckham in the UK, is counting on the positives in Kane Hekili. "He's a very stable horse. And what makes him very special is that he's always won in all the races he's participated in," he beamed.
"He's got loads of speed and he's got amazing stamina. He is easily the best horse in Japan," Take noted.
Take has a lot of racing experience at Nad Al Sheba. "I've been here five or six times before. So I know what to expect on the course," he smiled.
The best that Take struck at the Nad Al Sheba was a second place in the Dubai World Cup in 2001 on board To The Victory.
The same year, the Japanese jockey rode Stay Gold to victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
LATEST ODDS
William Hill odds on the
Dubai World Cup: 11-10 Electrocutionist (from Evs), 9-2 Kane Hekili, 11-2 Brass Hat, 8-1 Maraahel, 12-1 Super Frolic, 14-1 Choctaw Nation, Magna Graduate, 33-1 Star King Man, Wilko, 50-1 Chiquitin, Shakis.
