Quality three-year-old Kinane looks to be on track for a two-start Queensland campaign with the Chris Waller-trained gelding pleasing in a Rosehill trial on Friday.
The son of Reliable Man finished fourth in a 1030m heat under a quiet James McDonald ride.
“He was really good,” McDonald said. “He was pretty fresh. He bounced out well and travelled pretty kindly over that unsuitable trip and quickened up beautifully.
“He has had a good blow but he is very well within himself and I was rapt with the way he pulled up.”
The lightly tried three-year-old has been in the news of late after connections declined a substantial offer from Hong Kong for the last start Gr.3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) winner.
Raced by a syndicate headed by his former trainer Mick Kent, Kinane was a defector from Saturday’s Gr.1 South Australian Derby (2500m) with Chris Waller opting to campaign Kinane in Queensland.
Kent’s former racing manager Neale Donnelley, a well-known member of Melbourne’s racing media, is a part-owner in Kinane, who was bought out of Janine Dunlop’s Phoenix Park draft at the 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale for $165,000.
“Kinane will go up to Queensland for the Gunsynd Classic (Gr.3, 1800m) and then all going well he will go to the Rough Habit Plate (Gr.3, 2200m) in June,” Donnelley said.
“Chris wants to give him a bit more experience to improve his ringcraft a little bit. Then they will give him three or four weeks break up in Queensland in the sunshine and prepare him for the spring.
“We will just see where he fits in in the spring.
“He is bred to stay. He is by Reliable Man, out of a Nom du Jeu mare and the granddam is by Savabeel.”
Leading jockey James McDonald spoke in glowing terms of the son of Reliable Man, suggesting he was one of the most exciting horses he rode through the Sydney autumn carnival.
Donnelley revealed he and his wife were fortunate to own a share in the budding staying star after the demise of another horse they had originally bought into.
“About 18 months ago I started working with Mick Kent as his racing manager,” Donnelley said.
“Only a matter of three or four weeks later he told me that he had bought two horses out of the Ready To Run Sale in New Zealand.
“He liked both of them. The cheaper one, I bought a little share in and very sadly after about two weeks here, it was trotting and cantering at Cranbourne one morning and broke his shoulder, which was very sad.
“As a result, we moved into the second horse, which was Kinane. He’s by Reliable Man and he cost $165,000 and was identified by Mick and bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo.
“From day one Mick looked at him and said he was a really nice horse.
“Mick uses a combination of science and breeding and his pedigree man came back and told him the horse would be a genuine stayer. Mick had his stride measured at the Ready To Runs and he said it was the longest striding horse at the sale.
“When he walked in the stable, he looked like a rock star from the outset.
“He had the long mane and forelock and he just looked special from day one. Right from the first time they worked him, they knew he was pretty good.”
The patience of Mick Kent, who took a hiatus from training earlier this year, is credited with assisting the three-year-old who is now excelling under Waller’s care.
“Mick is having a break from the game, but he is on his way back,” Donnelley said. “He is building a farm down at Corinella but he will be back in a month or two.
“He decided to send this horse to Chris Waller because he is so good with stayers. If you think about it, his stayers last from season to season and are well looked after.”
Kinane is named after champion Irish jockey Michael Kinane, who retired in 2009 after 34 years in the saddle and had previously ridden for Kent.
“Mick said when he was training in Singapore the most reliable man he ever had to put in the saddle was Mick Kinane from Ireland, so given he is by Reliable Man, that’s how we named him,” Donnelley said.
