A dream of competing in the Melbourne Cup has been set aside for South Australian galloper Sir Kingsford, who will instead focus on local Cup races.
After finishing as the runner-up in the Port Adelaide Cup at Morphettville in May, Sir Kingsford crossed the border to contest the Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m) at Flemington. This race offers the winner a ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup.
Sir Kingsford struggled with the distance, leading trainers Gary and Nichole Searle and Brianna Callanan to make the decision to keep the gelding to a maximum of 2000 metres this preparation.
“It found him out,” Gary Searle said of the 2800m journey. “I always had my doubts, because he’s got that little bit of brilliance about him and you have to let him roll a bit. I didn’t go there last year after he won the Port Adelaide Cup because I had doubts, but this year, the owner said, ‘let’s find out’ so we did.”
Sir Kingsford begins his ‘spring’ campaign a little earlier this year in the Listed Leon Macdonald Stakes (1400m) at Morphettville Park on Saturday.
This race leads into the Listed Balaklava Cup (1600m) on September 16, the Listed Murray Bridge Cup (1600m) on October 3, and the Listed John Letts Cup (1800m) at Morphettville on Melbourne Cup Day.
These were three races Sir Kingsford contested last year, though a trip to Melbourne for the JRA Cup at Moonee Valley proved unsuccessful, as the track did not suit him.
If all goes according to plan, Sir Kingsford could head across the border again in December for a tilt at the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m).
“We put him out after Flemington, he had a month in the paddock and then a couple of weeks of doing a bit of equestrian work,” Searle said. “He was bouncing, so we thought we would bring him in. We’ll run him in this, which he will probably need, but in saying that, he has a bit of a spring in his step, the old fella, so I don’t think he will disgrace himself. After this, we’ll go to the Balaklava Cup, the Murray Bridge Cup and the John Letts Cup. We went through that last year. We ran third in the Murray Bridge Cup and second to Air Assault in the John Letts Cup. Air Assault has got the wood on us up to 1800 (metres), but maybe he might end up in Melbourne this year. He’s going to be running in races that are going to be short of his best, but I’ll treat him a bit different this prep as I won’t be getting out past 2000 metres. We’ll keep him nice and fresh and train him more as a sprinter.”
Searle noted that Saturday’s race features most of the likely contenders for the Balaklava Cup, a race Sir Kingsford competed in first-up last year.
He added that if Sir Kingsford were to target the Ballarat Cup in December, there would be sufficient time to follow a similar autumn racing schedule as the previous year.
“We could have a freshen up and have a go at the Oakbank Cup again and the Port Adelaide Cup again and just go down that path,” Searle concluded. “It’s just so hard with these horses in South Australia with their rating. They go up quick, and you get stuck there.”
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