Trainer Mick Kent has the option of two races for Kinane (NZ) (Reliable Man) to resume in at Flemington.
Having spent time with champion trainer Chris Waller, Kinane is back with his original conditioner and is set to make his racing return at Flemington.
Kent has the four-year-old son of Reliable Man entered for the Brian Beattie Handicap (1420m) and The David Bourke (1600m) on Saturday in a low-key build up to a potential spring campaign.
Kinane had one start for Michael Kent, who also has a share in the gelding, back in October 2019 before he was transferred to Waller when Kent decided on an abbreviated overseas holiday due to COVID after selling his Cranbourne stables.
Kent is in the process of developing another complex at Cranbourne alongside another beachside complex at Glen Forbes.
A winner of a Wyong maiden and the Gr.3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Randwick in April last year, Kinane was the subject of a large offer from Hong Kong.
Not all wanted to sell and the gelding remained in Waller’s care for a spring campaign last year, but he failed to flatter in three starts and was eventually sent for a break after running down the track in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield last September.
“He’s coming along well and I’ll probably run him at Flemington on Saturday, I’m not sure which race yet, over seven furlongs or a mile,” Kent told RSN.
“He’s had some issues but he seems to be coping well with them at the moment.
“You won’t see the best of him until he gets to a trip but he’s had a really good break, he’s matured up.
“He had some bone bruising and that seems to have settled down.
“We’ll keep him at Flemington on a good surface, give him a couple of runs and if he shows some form that warrants it, we can freshen him up and get him ready for the spring.”
