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00:00Royal Ascot is truly an international affair with nations from across the globe represented
00:10each year, and this year's renewal is no different.
00:14One of the key talking horses is Australian sprinter Autorius, who was placed at last
00:19year's meeting.
00:20You could say he has unfinished business, and he contests the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth
00:25II Jubilee Stakes.
00:27His trainer Sam Friedman is bullish about his chances, so tells us all about them.
00:32It was probably the making of him last year, bringing him over here in an extended campaign
00:38in Europe, which was not initially the plan.
00:40It was probably to maybe have the two-run campaign, but France finished it off, and
00:45it was a good run in France.
00:46He didn't have a lot of luck, and as you'd see over here, he's a horse that just needs
00:50a few things to go right.
00:51But I think in the last 12 months we've really nailed him, and he's settling a bit closer.
00:57But his year was excellent.
00:58He went back to Australia and didn't quite come up in the spring, so we just gave him
01:01a bit more time.
01:02He won first up in a Group 1 over the 6.5 furlongs in the Canterbury Stakes, and arguably
01:09his last run was brilliant behind Animo.
01:11So he's heading into this year's race in better form than he was last year, and he
01:18seems to be ready for the task.
01:20He's probably going to race 7 or 8 kilos heavier than he did last year.
01:24He was only a 3-year-old last year, and he was weighted as an older horse, so he's stronger
01:29this time around.
01:30He's going to be better weighted.
01:31It all points to a more forward showing.
01:35It's a best sprint race in Europe, I'd say, so it's not going to be an easy task by any
01:39means, but I wouldn't swap him for anything, and he seems to be in good form.
01:44We had some unfinished business from last year, so we wanted to go a couple of places
01:48better.
01:49He and the whole team at Newgate have been brilliant to work with, and look, he's an
01:54exciting stallion that's got a good future in the breeding barn, but unfinished business
01:58here, so we were keen to show him off and show that he can match up with the best in
02:03the world.
02:04The trainer always wants the horse to stay in training for a long period of time.
02:08We feel that he's right at the peak of his powers at the moment.
02:12I'd love to see him in a race like the Everest in 2023.
02:16Ultimately that'll be up to Henry and the team.
02:19He's just a good horse who's really starting to work it all out now, from beyond the race
02:24on the Saturday, and we'll just get through that and then we'll work out a plan.
02:28Last year was that little unknown, he was a little more lightly raced, he wasn't as
02:32experienced the first time away, so you're a little nervous.
02:35This time around I think we're confident that he's the right horse for the race, he's got
02:40the right form.
02:41I wouldn't swap him for anything there, so I'm feeling good about it all.
02:45Henry's got the whole team coming over, so they're coming to Newmarket on the Thursday
02:49morning to watch him have a canter.
02:53They're all very excited, so it's brilliant, I mean that's what horse ownership's all about.
02:58They'll all come over and enjoy the race day, win, lose or draw, hopefully we've got a trophy
03:01to celebrate with at the end of the day, but he's got them all fired up and they're all
03:07ready to hit the track.