Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans have made the best possible start with their first ‘Jenni’ runner, as two-year-old Jenni Multabella (NZ) (Ace High) won her debut impressively at Sale on Thursday.
The training partnership, which commenced at the start of the 2023/24 season, was entrusted with several Tony and Lynn Ottobre-owned fillies, with Jenni Multibella the first of those to race.
The daughter of Ace High sat outside leader Polyglot (Lonhro) ($6.50) for the bulk of the 1106-metre journey before looming up smartly to challenge that horse upon straightening.
It took her a while to put the runner-up away, but Jenni Multibella was far too strong over the final stages, pulling clear to score as a well-backed $2.30 favourite.
Kennewell was thrilled to pick up a win in the colours carried by freak mare Pride Of Jenni and repay the Ottobres’ faith in a timely manner.
He is already keen to see the filly, who is bred to get over much more ground, contest further races in spring after a spell.
“It’s a good relief, to be honest. Tony and Lynn have obviously given Lucy and I a couple of nice fillies to train,” he said.
“She’s been a pleasure to have in the stable and she’s shown us very good ability from day one. That was way below the distance she’ll hopefully be winning at later on.
“That was more than likely a one-and-done run for the prep and we’ll get ready for the spring, because she’s a pretty high-quality filly.”
Blake Shinn’s report from the saddle was just as encouraging, with the 26-time Group 1-winning hoop left very impressed by the slick performance.
“That was a beautiful run by that girl today – she jumped well, we had an open mind with how we’d ride her,” he said.
“When the horse inside her went to the rail, I elected just to encourage her to sit outside the leader and she travelled sweetly in hand.
“She was very strong. I knew I was going to pick the leader up when I wanted to … she’s going to get better when she gets over longer and the further we went, she was getting stronger.
“They brought this race back 100m, so I couldn’t imagine the margin if we went 1200m. But we got the job done today and it’s great for the stable.”
Jenni Multabella was purchased out of Cambria Park’s 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale Book 1 draft for $130,000.
