Australian Sprint Star Takeover Target Dies

Australian champion Takeover Target, a former global sprinting sensation, has been euthanized following an injury sustained in a paddock accident. He was 15.

The gelding retired in 2009 to owner Joe Janiak's Coffs Harbour property in New South Wales after compiling a 21-6-4 career line from 41 starts, including eight group I races. He campaigned in Australia, Great Britain, Japan, and Singapore while earning more than AUS$6 million.

Janiak was a part-time taxi driver and trainer when he bought Takeover Target, by Celtic Swing—Shady Stream, by Archregent, for just $1,250 as an unraced 4-year-old who missed racing when younger due to leg and joint injuries. The horse's rags-to-riches story captivated racing fans around the world and he was dubbed the "people's champion."

Takeover Target's racing career reached a climax in 2006, when he won the Lightning Stakes (Aus-I) and Newmarket Handicap (Aus-I), after which he was invited to compete at Royal Ascot. There he won the group II (now group I) King's Stand Stakes and just four days later was a commendable third in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Eng-I). Later that year in Japan, he defeated an international field in the Sprinters' Stakes (Jpn-I). He was Australia's champion sprinter of 2006.

Takeover Target's other group I wins include the 2008 KrisFlyer International Sprint in Singapore, and 2007 Doomben, 2004 Salinger, and 2009 Goodwood Handicap and T. J. Smith, all in Australia.

Takeover Target, bred in Australia by Meringo Stud Farm, was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.