By Ray Hickson Trainer Gary Moore is taking an ‘old school’ approach to revitalising Group 1 winning sprinter Takedown by schooling the hulking gelding ahead of his Randwick assignment on Saturday. Takedown has spent much of this week preparing for the Filante Handicap (1400m) at Limitless Lodge near Wyong where he’s enjoyed a very different lifestyle to his normal Rosehill digs. Moore has never jumped Takedown before and decided he needed a change after his lacklustre performance in the Sydney Stakes (1200m). “I was slightly disappointed by his last start so I sent him out to Limitless Lodge to do some jumping and live in a paddock during the day,’’ Moore said. “It's probably an old idea. We can do it at Rosehill but I thought it'd be better to send him to Tim Boland who is a show jumper and he's been riding the horse himself. “Hopefully that will do the trick for the races ahead.’’ Moore had hoped Takedown would return to the form that won him the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes last year and gain an Everest slot. Now he’s dropped the five-year-old back to open company where he gets in with 60kg, after in-form apprentice Lee Magorrian’s claim, to get a real guide on just how the horse is going. “Tim Clark's got off him a few times and said we need to step hi up in trip. Hopefully that’s the case,’’ he said. “He looked like he has tightened up a bit since his last run and, if you take out his last run, coming in with 60kg he is very well placed.’’ A defence of his Winterbottom crown, via another 1400m event in Melbourne, is on the agenda if Takedown (rated a $7 chance with TAB) can return to his best. Moore is upbeat about the chances of ex-Hong Kong galloper Accepted as he has his second Australian start in the E-Group Security Sprint (1000m). With 63kg on his back, Accepted finished 1.9 lengths behind Grand Condor in the final event on Everest Day. “As a younger horse he won a Listed race in Ireland before he was purchased by the current owners in Hong Kong,’’ he said. “I liked the way he worked leading into his first trial and I know he had a lot of weight but I ran him in that race because that day's racing was televised into Hong Kong and he owners could see him race. “It was a hell of an effort, he's going to strip a very fit horse and if he keeps going the way he is, I think he's up to stakes class in Australia.’’ Magorrian also rides Accepted ($12) who drops to 57kg after the claim. Check out all the form and replays for Saturday's meeting at Royal Randwick
