Star stayer makes eagerly anticipated comeback after 605 days on the sidelines in the $2.5m Red Sea Handicap on the Saudi Cup undercard on February 25.
Saudi Arabia: As he readies star stayer Subjectivist for his first run in 605 days at the Saudi Cup meeting, trainer Charlie Johnston is the first to admit that horses like him don’t come around very often.
The son of Teofilo looked to have the staying division at his mercy after surging clear for a five-length victory in the 2021 Gold Cup at Ascot when trained by his father Mark – but he has been off the track ever since following a serious leg injury.
• Probable fields for Saudi Cup meeting
After a lengthy rehabilitation process, the dual G1 winner is back and Mark’s son Charlie – now the sole name on the licence at Kingsley Park stable in Middleham – is excited about running Subjectivist in the $2.5 million Longines Red Sea Turf Handicap on February 25.
“It’s been an 18-month rehab journey, so to have come this far is great and we’re all very much looking forward to having him on the track again,” said Johnston, who took over the Johnston Racing licence at the start of the year.
“It’s a bit of an unknown in the sense we aren’t entirely sure what we have back, and it will be asking a lot to have the same horse that we had 20 months ago. I sincerely hope we do, but we won’t find that out until he runs in Saudi.”
The six-year-old also won the Prix Royal-Oak (French St Leger) and Dubai Gold Cup (by nearly six lengths) before his Ascot triumph. He was given a racecourse gallop at Newcastle last week ahead of his Riyadh return.
“I was pleased with what I saw at Newcastle,” Johnston said. “The difficulty with any horse is that you don’t put really put them into the red zone at home, but particularly with a horse of this nature who runs over these distances.
“We’ve never gone to the distances which he excels over, and we don’t have many 120-rated stayers to work him either, so of course there’s that unknown, but both myself and Joe [Fanning] were pleased with how he went.
“Joe knows the horse better than anyone and he said he got better and better the further he went which obviously bodes well for next weekend.”
Ahead of Subjectivist’s run in the 3,000-metre (1m7f) event, Johnston is doing his best to keep his feet on the ground, though he admits that if his horse retains any of his old ability he will take all the beating.
“I’m trying to keep my expectations relatively in check,” he explained. “ The main thing is that the horse comes back safe and sound. If he can show that he can at least be competitive at this level, then we know that we’ve still got something to work with moving forwards.
“However, with the greatest respect to what else is in the race, this horse, at his best, is in a completely different stratosphere to the rest of them. The form he showed in any of his last three starts would win this race very comfortably.”
Subjectivist is likely to face fellow British visitors Trawlerman, Enemy and Nate The Great and while Johnston isn’t saying he thinks his horse will necessarily win, he admits that a victory would be right up there with anything his family have achieved.
“There have been some pretty remarkable training feats from this team over the years,” he said. “I was a lot less involved with the likes of Attraction, but to bring a horse of this level, with that injury, back after this time away would be a pretty monumental task.
“Horses of this calibre are very hard to find and we reached a stage two years ago where I was that confident in his ability that I didn’t think there was a stayer in the world that could beat him. It was purely a case of picking which races we wanted to win.
“Those horses come along every 15 or 20 years, so to have nearly lost him was a huge blow, but if we can get him back to anywhere near his imperious best, it would be a huge thrill for us all.”
• Visit the Johnston Racing website and the Saudi Cup website
Saudi Cup: likely fields revealed as Country Grammer and Taiba spearhead US challenge
What Katy did next: one woman’s journey from exercise rider to jet-setting owner
Seven Days In Racing: Irad Ortiz, Ryan Moore, Lane's End and more …
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires