Two stable stars ruled out for the spring but Kennewell holding strong Coolmore hand
By James Lamb
It’s been a while between Group 1s for Lloyd Kennewell, Viddora’s 2018 Moir Stakes win being the latest, but the Cranbourne trainer is upbeat about the depth of his stable this season.
Unfortunately a couple of his potential stars won’t be seen in the spring (more on that later), but Kennewell has a pair of colts he believes can give the Coolmore Stud Stakes an almighty shake.
“Both Mbube and Organised Crime are lovely colts that I’ve had a high opinion of from the start,” Kennewell said.
“I’ve always been a ‘think big, dream big’ sort of guy and the Coolmore has always been the plan for them and I couldn’t be happier with their progression.”
Kennewell trained I Am Unstoppable to runner-up in the 2023 Coolmore and plans on following the same spring path to the stallion-making sprint.
The Poseidon Stakes (1100m) at Flemington on September 12, followed by the Danehill Stakes over the same route on October 3 await Mbube and Organised Crime if all goes to plan.
“I think most trainers with an eye to the Coolmore will follow that path as the McKenzie Stakes is 1300m this year (up from 1200m) with the move to Sandown,” Kennewell said.
Organised Crime, a $26 chance for the Coolmore with TAB, justified Kennewell’s faith in him by going from a Sale maiden win to a close-up second in the G3 Vain Stakes at his next outing.
Ethan Brown has already been booked to pilot the I Am Invincible colt in the Poseidon, while Mark Zahra will ride Mbube.
When asked to pick his ‘favourite child’, Kennewell had a slight leaning to Mbube, who he also part-owns.
“Mbube has always been very natural, very light on his feet, and he’s got a seriously sharp turn-of-foot … so I’ll go with him, but Organised Crime is a millimeter behind him.
“I haven’t worked them together at home and I don’t really intend to. They don’t need to race each other for no prizemoney, they can wait until raceday,” Kennewell said.
Despite only having one start to date, Mbube has already been a real boon to two different ownership groups.
Kennewell purchased the Rubick colt as a yearling for $22,500 for clients who wanted a cheap horse to go through a breeze-up sale.
Those owners saw a massive return on their investment as Mbube sold for $300,000 at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale to a team that Kennewell assembled.
“I thought he was potentially the best horse I had in my barn, a two-year-old that was showing great ability.
“So I got a group together to go back and buy him (again).
“I had clients wanting to sell, and others looking to buy a quality horse – so it was just good business,” Kennewell explained.
“Some people might see it as unusual (buying it twice), but that’s just the way it worked out.
“Thankfully on debut, he backed up what I thought of him,” Kennewell said.
Another horse that impressed on debut was Shamus Award mare Karren, who won what has turned out to be one of the hotter maidens in Victoria in recent times.
Sent out a $21 chance, she proved too strong for Sass Appeal, who is unbeaten in five starts since.
Other winners to come out of the 1200m affair include Layla, Thanks Gorgeous, Yellowjacket, Licentious (who was 150-1), Eden Rose, and Snitchy.
“Karren won with authority that day and I think she’s a really promising mare.
“She just didn’t come up when I brought her back for her last campaign (in March this year). I wasn’t 100 percent happy with her, so I put her away and she looks much better now.
“She had a nice little trial at Caulfield the other day and she’ll have another one next week, before we look to kick her off.
“There’s no real grand plan with her this spring, we’d just love to pick off some races around the edges,” Kennewell said.
Jenni Multabella is another talented mare that Kennewell is keen to steadily take through the grades before hopefully graduating to Group level.
“She should have won last start, didn’t have much luck there.
“She’s had a few injuries but she definitely has loads of ability and she should prove hard to beat on Saturday (1800m BM78 at Caulfield).
“I think there’s plenty of nice staying races for her over the spring and then we can start thinking bigger for next year,” Kennewell said.
Unfortunately, another promising stayer in Straand Deal is facing some time on the sidelines after pulling up a bit scratchy following his Sandown Hillside win on June 13, which was his third in a row and fifth from just eight starts.
“I just wasn’t happy with how he came through that run, which is really unfortunate because we thought he could be a Metrop chance and then possibly onto the Cups.”
“So he’s had a bit of a setback and probably won’t be seen until later in the autumn,” Kennewell said.
Promising colt Eternal Warrior, still in Coolmore Stud Stakes markets at $26, won’t be featuring this spring either as he recovers from a suspensory injury.
“He’s still in rehab after copping that injury in the lead-up to the Slipper.
“He’s on a long road to recovery but we’re hopeful we could have him back for the autumn,” Kennewell said.
After more than 20 years as a trainer, Kennewell feels he’s better equipped to deal with setbacks than he perhaps was in the early days.
“Early on, you’re eager and keen to get results and you probably operate in a bit of a hurry.
“As you get older, you get a bit wiser and realise that things definitely work out better when you just relax and take them in your stride.
“You know there are things you are going to go through in this game and there’s no need to overthink or overreact too much,” Kennewell said.
Stable favourite Meridius, closing in on $800k in earnings, will be set for the rich Southside Racing slot races before a likely trip north for the Magic Millions carnival in Queensland.
