Takedown will make his Group 1 debut in the 2015 Champagne Stakes at Royal Randwick this weekend and trainer Gary Moore could not be happier with the condition of the promising two-year-old.

Takedown has the chance to record a maiden win at Group 1 level in the 2015 Champagne Stakes. Photo by: Steve Hart

Takedown made his racing debut with a third place finish at Kembla Grange on February 14 and he broke his maiden at Hawkesbury a fortnight later before he progressed to Group level to record tough wins in both the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes (1200m) at Canberra on March 8 and the Group 3 Schweppervescence Quality (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 28.

Moore told Sky Racing HQ that Takedown had trained on extremely well coming out of the Schweppervescence Quality and he said he could not have been happier with the Stratum gelding final piece of trackwork heading into the Champagne Stakes.

“He has just got everything going for him,” Moore said.

“He doesn’t look like a two-year-old, he is muscular and he has done everything that we have asked of him.

“He worked fantastic, he went 1000 metres and he started to increase his tempo from the 600 and they ran the last 600 in 36.5 and the last furlong in 12.8 and he had plenty in hand.

“It was an exceptional gallop and Kerrin McEvoy was very pleased with him and couldn’t believe how clean-winded he is.

“He has gone on and looks in great shape.

“I think that anybody that backs him on Saturday will be very pleased with the way that he looks before the race.”

Takedown took up the running in the early stages of both the Black Opal Stakes and Schweppervescence Quality, but was still able to produce a strong kick in the final stages of the race.

Moore said that he will be happy to instruct jockey Kerrin McEvoy to take up the running in the early stages of the Champagne Stakes, but he believes that the two-year-old has the ability to take a sit if Fernhill Handicap winner The Barrister sets a quick early tempo.

“The Barrister will go and make it again and if he doesn’t make it then I will, it doesn’t matter,” Moore said.

“My horse has got a fantastic stride on him, so he is a very malleable horse and he has great gate speed.

“I don’t think that the mile will worry him.

“What I did before he had his first start, we had very deep ground at Rosehill and we had him in a jump out and he handled it with ease.”

Moore is chasing his first win at the highest level of racing since he won the 2012 edition of the Macau Hong Kong Trophy (1500m) with Viva Pronto.