Rising star Taken will take a significant step up this weekend when he clashes with established Group 1 competitors in The Supernova at Pakenham.

The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained gelding carries winning form into the second of Southside Racing’s slot races, aiming to stretch his sequence to six straight victories.

However, Saturday’s 1400m contest includes formidable opposition, notably Here To Shock and Private Eye.

“It will be hard to beat Here To Shock and Private Eye at the weight scale, but we’ve got a progressive horse, and I know for one thing, he is a winner,” Kent Jnr said.

“He’s yet to miss a place in 10 starts, five wins and five placings, so he doesn’t like losing.”

Taken strung together four wins during late autumn and winter before delivering a strong fresh performance at Caulfield on November 15 in benchmark 84 grade under Ethan Brown.

Although the stable believes Taken will eventually excel over further, the opportunity to run in owner Carl Holt’s slot was too good to overlook.

“We do think his best trip is a mile and Ethan thinks he may even get further,” Kent Jnr said.

“Carl Holt is a big player in the game. He has a lot of horses, a lot of luck in our stables and he’s got a slot and was very keen to run.

“It fits in nicely to his program. He has won his last five, so he had earned his shot and we’re four weeks from his win at Caulfield.

“He’s nice and fresh to stay at the 1400 (metres) and Pakenham is a beautiful track for him.”

Kent Jnr said Taken’s development since arriving from New Zealand has been impressive, with further improvement likely.

“He was a relatively inexperienced find in New Zealand and I don’t know where his ceiling is,” Kent Jnr said.

“His wins at Flemington in the winter were quite impressive, but they were in moderate class and the fact that he came back and won first-up in open class suggests he might have gone to the next level.”

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