The two-year-old race staged by the Levin Racing Club at Otaki every November has a proven record of unearthing top-level talent, and Te Akau Racing is hoping for more of the same with Sunday’s Levin Jumpouts 2YO (1100m) winner Kinnaird.
The late-spring juvenile event boasts four subsequent Group One winners among its list of winners in the last 17 years alone, starting with the 2008 winner Eileen Dubh, who returned to take out the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) on the same raceday in 2009.
The 2009 and 2020 winners, Jimmy Choux and Imperatriz, both earned New Zealand Horse of the Year honours later in their careers, while last year’s winner Romanoff went on to claim the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton just under 12 months later.
Those are big shoes to fill for Kinnaird, who like Imperatriz races in the tangerine colours of Te Akau. But he took a big step towards the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie in January with Sunday’s hard-fought debut win.
A half-brother to the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) winner Jon Snow, the Home Affairs colt had shown promising signs at the trials and was sent out as a $2.40 favourite for Sunday’s $40,000 event.
Ridden by Craig Grylls, Kinnaird sat on the outside of the front-running Butler Cabin before quickening and taking command in the straight.
He looked vulnerable as fellow first-starter Ka Ron launched a strong bid from near the back of the field, but rose to meet that challenge. At the end of a head-bobbing final 50m, Kinnaird clung on narrowly to win by a nose.
Kinnaird earned $23,000 from Sunday’s win, which puts him in equal sixth spot on the order of entry for the Karaka Millions 2YO on January 24. The TAB now has him on the fourth line of betting at $9 in a market headed by De Armas ($3.20), Incandescent and Torture (both $6).
“It was a really good performance to stick his head out and win in a close finish and he showed plenty of grit and determination,” said Mark Walker, who trains in partnership with Sam Bergerson.
“He was left in front a little bit soon in the straight, and was a touch green at his first start, but he knuckled down strongly when the other horse arrived up alongside.
“He’ll take a lot of improvement from the race and trip away, and I think that after a short freshen-up, he’ll keep furnishing into an even better young horse. There is plenty of upside with him.
“The family has invariably left horses that win over much more distance and as older horses, but he has shown precocity and natural talent to be able to race and win as a two-year-old and there is a lot more scope to come.
“He’s eligible for the Karaka Millions 2YO in January at Ellerslie, and that will be our aim.”
Kinnaird is the second winner for Coolmore Australia’s first-season stallion Home Affairs, and both of those winners have been in New Zealand. The first was the Tony Pike-trained Harvey Wallbanger, who won at Ellerslie on debut before finishing second behind De Armas in the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m).
Kinnaird was offered by Highview in Book 1 of Karaka 2025, where Te Akau principal David Ellis bought him for $340,000. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
