Attraction challenges Silent Witness´s 18-race winning streak

ATTRACTION, the filly whose fairytale success in two Classics and a race at Royal Ascot made her the darling of the British racing scene last year, goes to post for the first leg of the Asia Mile Challenge at Sha Tin carrying abundant confidence from her connections.

A clash with the legendary Hong Kong champion Silent Witness would put a shiver down the spine of most trainers, but Attraction´s handler Mark Johnston and her jockey Kevin Darley believe she has the talent to give the former´s now 17-race winning sequence to a real test.

Her triumphs in the English and Irish 1,000 Guineas as well as the Group 1 Coronation Stakes are fresh in Johnston´s memory and he said Attraction is giving him the same positive signals ahead of her comeback as a four-year-old.

Johnston, who saddled Marina Park to finish second in the Hong Kong Bowl and has had a handful of runners at the International meeting, was delighted with the way Attraction performed in a gallop at Newmarket racecourse at the beginning of the month.opopspanfontp

He said: 'It was an absolutely fantastic piece of work with the Group 1 winner Pearl Of Love, and very different from the gallop she had at Ripon before last season´s 1,000 Guineas when she went with a vastly inferior horse.'

'Her whole attitude is the same as it was last year, and while it´s in the lap of the gods how her inter-continental mission will go, as she hasn´t travelled anything like that far, the fast conditions you normally get at Sha Tin will play to her strengths. Even if the ground comes up good, I´m sure she would handle it.'

Johnston emphasised that the reason the Duke Of Roxburgh-owned filly is still in training is in order to make money. The lure of the Champions Mile in Hong Kong and the Yasuda Kinen in Japan, which comprise the Challenge, were obviously too much of a temptation for her connections to opt to go instead for races in England.

Johnston added: 'Attraction is no longer racing for reputation or stud value, as she secured those with her fantastic campaign in 2004. She is now running purely for the money and the decision to keep her in training is purely a financial one.'

'The Asia Mile Challenge is just the sort of thing we were keeping our eyes skinned for, and the plan for later in the year is to hopefully go for the Breeders´ Cup and also the Hong Kong International Races in December. There is #1.3 million up for grabs if you take into account the two races as well as the bonus, while the next race open for her in England is worth only #100,000.'

Attraction´s jockey Kevin Darley is relishing the prospect of taking on Silent Witness and can´t wait to renew his association with her.

Darley, the top rider in the North of England and stable jockey to Johnston´s 200-strong stable in Middleham, North Yorkshire, said: 'I never ride her in any work at her stable but when I sat on her in the gallop at Newmarket she gave me a great feel, quickening-up like a super filly. Silent Witness is obviously a great champion but he will have to be at his very best of if he is to beat us.'