Angelic Light beats Lankan Rupee at Moonee Valley (pic: Getty Images)
With some of the best sprinters to grace the racetracks of the world in the past two decades peeking over his shoulder, jockey Craig Newitt declared Lankan Rupee as good as any of them this week.
Newitt hopes to be a part of Lankan Rupee’s fourth Group 1 success when the pair combine in Friday night’s Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley.
Newitt was a special guest at a luncheon held at Living Legends this week, where Apache Cat, Sacred Kingdom and Silent Witness are regular guests.
That trio won 55 races between them but Newitt believes the “new’’ Lankan Rupee would have comfortably held his own.
“At his elite best, he would measure up, no doubt,’’ Newitt said. “He runs the times, he runs the sectionals.
“It is hard to compare horses of different eras, but I would think he would compare to everything bar the mare (Black Caviar). She just stands alone.’’
Acknowledging Black Caviar’s freakish ability helped Newitt come to terms with Lankan Rupee’s surprise first-up defeat.
“There’s only one horse I know that’s never been beaten and that’s Black Caviar. They are all vulnerable at some stage,” he said.
“Obviously we walked away very disappointed he got beaten, but at the end of the day he got beaten a tiny margin.
“We know the horse has improved and I think he’s getting back to where he was last prep.
“He’s touted the best sprinter in the world, which I think he is and I think he will show that (tonight).’’
Newitt won five Group 1 races on Miss Andretti and is constantly asked to compare Lankan Rupee with her.
Surprisingly, another horse enters the mix.
“I always said Samaready was the best sprinter I ever rode, hence the reason I chose to ride her over Lankan Rupee in the Newmarket,” Newitt said.
“More the fool me because he came out and smashed her.
“We used to work them together. Every day of the week she would towel him.’’
It has been well documented how a gelding operation transformed Lankan Rupee into a world class talent, but Newitt is still surprised at how much difference it made.
“I can’t explain it,’’ he said. “Mick (Price) can’t explain it. I don’t think anyone can explain it.
“Even though you geld a horse, it doesn’t improve them close to the 10 lengths I would say he has improved.
“Obviously as a colt he was hurting. We knew he wasn’t giving his best, because he was an arrogant pig on the track. He would bolt on you at trackwork. You couldn’t hold him.
“When they cut him it was incredible because the first day he came back as a gelding he was a different horse.
“You would canter him around trackwork on the end of a buckle and the more racing he had, the better he got.
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