Kingman. Photo by Club Menangle
New South Wales pacer Kingman has continued his meteoric rise through the Australasian harness racing ranks with an emphatic victory in Tuesday afternoon’s Group 1 New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington.
Trained and driven by Luke McCarthy, the four-year-old entire lowered the colours of Queensland champion Leap To Fame for the second time in succession and had to do it the tradesman way by sitting three wide for the last 1400 metres of the two-mile feature.
Drawn in 12 behind the second strand in the standing start event, Kingman was not as fast away from the tapes as McCarthy would have liked, and settled a long way back in the big field while two of his main dangers Republican Party and Leap To Fame were up dictating terms in the leading division.
Showing all the race sense that makes him one of the best reinsmen in the world, McCarthy’s move to put his horse into the race with just over a lap to travel proved to be a winning one, relying on Kingman’s speed and strength to wear down Leap To Fame over the concluding stages.
“It was going to be a long way to come and die wondering,” said McCarthy.
“I knew what I had under me and that if I were able to get around the rest of the field cheaply while we were racing in a straight line, I could back my fella’s strength and speed late.
“He is just a beast of a horse, and this is one massive thrill for me to win a New Zealand Cup.
“I am so grateful to Mick and Jane Harvey for entrusting me with Kingman, we have had some great success with him and other horses they have raced over the years, but this win is right up there as being the best.”
McCarthy jets back into Australia today and will immediately head down the Hume Highway tomorrow afternoon with his other stable star Don Hugo who has drawn gate 13 in the $60,000 ‘The Bidgee’ at Wagga.
It will be the first leg of the TAB Carnival of Cups which again holds a $1 million bonus for any horse that can win all five feature Cups.
Attracting an exciting field of open class pacers, Don Hugo joins Captains Knock, Horn Player, Catch A Wave and Max Delight as major contenders in the Bidgee.
