Champion international sprinter Rocket Man won’t be running in Melbourne during the upcoming spring carnival.

Australia’s loss will be Japan’s gain and trainer Patrick Shaw said the G1 Sprinters Stakes in Tokyo is now high on the radar.  “The quarantine conditions heading into and out of Australia will cause too many problems,” Shaw claimed.  “It would have affected his preparation towards the Golden Shaheen in March.  I want him to be the first horse to win that race back-to-back.

“Japan is my first choice now.  He can get there 10 days before the race and he can come straight back to isolation at Kranji after the race, and be trained almost immediately for Hong Kong.”

Rocket Man (Viscount) will not meet Black Caviar in the immediate future.  

“He’s Australian-bred and it would have meant the world to me to just take him back to his country of birth to compete against the best there,” Shaw said.  “As for the race with Black Caviar, who knows, it might happen at Kranji in 2012 now that she is targeted at Royal Ascot.”