 Jockey Felix Coetzee and Silent Witness salute the Sha Tin crowd |
Record-breaking sprinter Silent Witness could bring an international flavour to the 2006 Royal Ascot meeting. The Hong Kong-based horse made modern racing history by winning 17 races on the trot.
Owner Archie da Silva said he planned to run the six-year-old in Royal Ascot's two feature sprint races - the King's Stand and Golden Jubilee Stakes
The Australian-bred gelding, trained by Tony Cruz, beat the 16-race runs of Cigar, Citation and Ribot in April.
But the run ended a month later when he tackled a mile for the first time.
The great Australian champion of the 1930s, Ajax, won 18 races in succession before going down at odds of 1-40 at Rosehill, Sydney in 1939.
Australian sprinter Choisir completed the sprint double at the Royal Ascot meeting in 2003.
And the appearance of Silent Witness, who is a hugely popular figure in Hong Kong, would be a coup for Ascot which is looking to reopen in time for the Royal meeting after a �185m revamp.
MMIX
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