Chris Waller’s unbeaten $1 million colt Emirate won’t run in Saturday week’s JJ Atkins Stakes

Emirate was the second favourite for Saturday week’s JJ Atkins but will have to wait until the spring to get his crack in Group 1 grade.

Leading trainer Chris Waller will resist the temptation to give unbeaten colt Emirate his chance in Saturday week’s Group 1 J J Atkins (1600m), sticking to his plan to send the emerging talent for a spell.

Emirate was an $8 equal second favourite alongside Bittercreek for the final two-year-old major at Eagle Farm before being removed from TAB betting on Tuesday morning when it was confirmed he would not contest the race.

The son of star stallion Extreme Choice has made an excellent start to his career including a brilliant 2½-length success over 1300m at Rosehill Gardens last weekend.

Emirate was a $1 million yearling purchase and is raced in a partnership between ARAMCO Racing and Yulong with the colt destined to get every chance to secure a future at stud during his three-year-old season.

Emirate makes it two from two and wins at Rosehill!@aus_turf_club@[e-mail]/EkquEeK8GG

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 1, 2024

“There will be no JJ Atkins for him, he’s gone for a spell,” Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox said.

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“He was very impressive winning on Saturday and we have an interest in the second horse, Sovereign Hill, who we have a very high opinion of as well.

“I thought he went super.”

Yulong race runner up Sovereign Hill with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and the colt remains a $51 chance for the JJ Atkins Stakes at Eagle Farm.

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Waller’s Mr Artemisa also remains in JJ Atkins calculations after the colt had the flashing light run behind Emirate last Saturday when flashing home for third.

Mr Artemisia is an $11 contender for the JJ Atkins where Godolphin colt Broadsiding is the $1.90 favourite following his BRC Sires’ victory last weekend.

Waller has already won the JJ Atkins Stakes three times with former stars Pressday (2010), Press Statement (2015) and The Autumn Sun (2018) while he’s trained a placegetter in each of the past three years.

Originally published as Chris Waller’s unbeaten $1 million colt Emirate won’t run in Saturday week’s JJ Atkins Stakes