Poms might Witness a star

A lot has been said about Star Witness not measuring up to past Australian winners at Royal Ascot.

That might be so in some cases, but I believe that Star Witness more than matches the most recent Australian sprint star to capture the imagination of England, the flashy Starspangledbanner.

I believe that Star Witness is every bit as good a horse as Starspangedbanner, a horse who went to England in 2009 to be trained by Aidan O’Brien and won the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes (1200m, Royal Ascot) and the Group 1 July Cup (1200m, Newmarket). He certainly has a more brilliant burst of speed, which might put him ahead of his rivals in tonight’s Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

That comparison might surprise some people in the UK, especially as Star Witness is very much under the Black Caviar radar, but let’s look at the record of the two horses.

Starspangledbanner won two Group 1 races before he left Australia – the 2008 Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) in the spring and the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) in the autumn.

The colt’s spring campaign was terrific, particularly at Caulfield, winning the Listed Vain Stakes (1000m) and Group 3 McNeil Stakes (1100m) and taking out the Guineas thanks to a brilliant front-running ride from jockey Danny Nikolic. In the Guineas he beat Carrara and Manhattan Rain.

Starspangledbanner had three starts in the autumn – his Oakleigh Plate win was sandwiched between a first-up fourth behind Nicconi in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m, Flemington) and third behind Wanted in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m, Flemington).

Let’s look at his Oakleigh Plate win. It was a very low-quality Oakleigh Plate – Starspangledbanner carried the limit of 52kg and beat Here De Angels and Arinos in a blanket finish in which there was only a length between the first six horses.

I concede Starspangledbanner some credit for beating Manhattan Rain in the Guineas, because that horse went on to run a brilliant second behind So You Think in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m, Moonee Valley) at his next start, but Carrara has shown himself to be nothing more than a Listed/Group 3 class horse. The same can be said for Here De Angels and Arinos, who chased Starspangledbanner home in the Oakleigh Plate.

Star Witness goes to England off a mixed autumn campaign, but we need to take it from the trainer Danny O’Brien that what happened in Melbourne earlier this year has been rectified. “The Royal Ascot meeting has been 12 months in the planning,” he said this week.

That year-long plan may have had something to do with Star Witness’ ordinary autumn campaign, which got off to a bad start when he was beaten first-up – fourth behind Enjin Number Nine – at Sandown. There is no doubt that Star Witness just wasn’t ready for that fresh run because O’Brien and connections probably their sight set too far ahead towards England. O’Brien says his horse pumped and ready to go.

I believe Star Witness’ spring carnival form is the key to his chances at Royal Ascot. He was brilliant winning the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m, Flemington) and more impressive chasing home Black Caviar in the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic – behind him were Ortensia, All Silent, Melito, Hay List and Eagle Falls, and all bar Ortensia are Group 1 winners.

O’Brien makes no bones about the fact Star Witness, who won the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m, Caulfield) as a 2YO, is better suited to straight-track racing. He gets the perfect conditions at Royal Ascot.

I am unsure about the opposition, but I know that none of this lot would get within a bull’s roar of Black Caviar. If Star Witness runs to his Patinack Farm Classic run, he’ll win tonight’s Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes.

The only query I have is his temperament. He played up badly before the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in March – O’Brien blames the noisy Top Gear racing cars at the nearby Showgrounds for upsetting the horse – but English journalist Emma Berry, who has watched Star Witness up close at Newmarket while riding out for her husband, trainer John Berry, is concerned about the colt’s attitude.

She wrote in an email to me this morning. “(I) have been slightly concerned with Star Witness’ appearance/behaviour on the heath. He gets very worked up and sweats a lot. Perhaps that’s just him. He doesn’t have a lead horse with him and the atmosphere on the heath can be quite a lot for a horse not used to it. He should still be way clear of our sprinters.”

That’s not the “relaxed” report we are getting through the media from O’Brien. Let’s hope that the happy, in-form Star Witness steps out tonight.

Tonight is a feast of great racing for Australians – the first three races feature the Goldikova/Canford Cliffs clash in the Queen Anne Stakes, the King’s Stand, and Frankel in the St James’s Palace Stakes. The first race kicks off at 11.30pm – all vision is on TVN (coverage starts at 9.45pm) and Sky.

PHOTE: Emma Berry’s picture of Star Witness working at Newmarket.