RIYADH: Despite being closely linked with the likes of Shamardal, Double Trigger and Attraction, trainer Charlie Johnston is the first to admit that horses like Subjectivist don’t come along very often.
Teofilo’s son saw the split left at his mercy after a clear spurt to win the 2021 Gold Cup at Ascot when trained by his father Mark, but unfortunately a serious leg injury meant he has been sidelined from the track ever since. is far.
However, after a lengthy rehabilitation process, the two-time Group 1 winner is back and Johnson, now the sole holder of the license, is getting ready to race his stable star in the $2.5 million Group 3 Longines Red Sea Turf Handicap. Excited for. 25 February.
He added: “It’s been an 18-month rehab journey so it’s great to be here and we’re all very keen to get him back on track.
“It is a bit of an unknown in the sense that we are not completely sure what we have, and it will say a lot to keep the same horse that we had 20 months ago. I sincerely hope we do, but We won’t know until he moves to Saudi.
The 6-year-old was given a racecourse gallop at Newcastle last week, and his trainers are delighted with the outing, all set to run for the first time in 605 days.
“I was pleased with what I saw at Newcastle,” said Johnson. “The difficulty with any horse is that you don’t really put them in the red zone at home, but especially with a horse of this nature who races these distances.
“We’ve never run the distances at which he excels, and we haven’t even had many 120-rated stayers to work him, so of course he’s an unknown, but me and Joe (Fanning ) Both were happy with how it went.
“Joe knows the horse better than anyone and that said he got better and better that went on which obviously bodes well for next weekend.”
Ahead of Subjectivist’s run in the 3000m Group 3, Johnson is doing his best to keep his feet on the ground, although he believes his horse will have everyone beat if he retains his old ability.
“I’m trying to keep my expectations relatively in check and the main thing is that the horse comes back safe and sound,” he said.
“If he can show he can be competitive at least at this level, then we know we still have some work to do going forward.
“However, with the greatest of respect for what else is in the race, this horse, at his best, is in a completely different stratosphere to the rest of them. The form he showed in his last three starts Will win this race very comfortably.
Subjectivist is likely to be matched up against fellow British raiders Trawlerman, Enemy and Nate the Great in Saturday’s contest, and while Johnson is not saying he thinks his horse will necessarily win, he does believe a win is right there. Hogi is whatever his family has achieved.
“This team has made some remarkable training achievements over the years,” he added. “I was little involved with the choice of attraction, but to bring a horse of this level, with that injury, back after all this time will be a huge task.
“Horses of this caliber are very hard to find and we got to a point two years ago where I had so much confidence in their ability that I didn’t think there was going to be anyone in the world who could beat them. It was simply a matter of choosing which race we wanted to win.
“Those horses come along every 15 or 20 years, so to almost lose them was a huge blow, but if we can get them back anywhere near their best, it will be a huge thrill for all of us “