G1 winner Takedown on comeback trail

Takedown (left) will run in a barrier trial at Rosehill ahead of his Challenge Stakes return.

Gary Moore hopes revamped training facilities at Rosehill will prove the catalyst for Takedown’s successful comeback.

A Group One winner in 2016, the gelding has battled to regain the form that propelled him to victory in the Winterbottom Stakes in Perth.

Takedown started his previous preparation as a possible candidate for an Everest slot but his lack of form meant he was never a contender for the $10 million sprint in October.

He was unable to defend the Winterbottom in December after he injured during a lead-up race.

“In his last run he did have an accident at the start. He’s jumped out and other horse stood on his coronet band and split it.

“We had to stitch it. He’s overcome all that and his action has been very good.”

Although soft tracks didn’t help, Moore said the major issue during Takedown’s last preparation was the non-availability of the Pro-Ride track at his training headquarters.

“I just believe he was over his winning weight. Now we should be OK because we’ve got the new Pro-Ride at Rosehill, where he did all his work,” Moore said.

“We’ve just got to get him down to about 630 kilos.”

The Australian Turf Club unveiled a new all-weather 1700-metre long Pro-Ride surface earlier this month.

“That’s going to come in handy. He did all his work out there when he was going well. We had six months without it so it’s going to be a big help to get him fit on.

“He looks well and his body weight is coming down.”

Takedown will run in a 900m-barrier trial at Rosehill on Monday ahead of his planned return in the Group Two Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Randwick on March 10.