Horse racing: Warren Kennedy looks to close in on jockeys’ premierships at Te Rapa

Warren Kennedy will ride Snazzytavi in the Manco Easter Handicap.

Warren Kennedy can take a giant leap towards tying up the three New Zealand jockeys’ premierships that matter all in one meeting at Te Rapa today.

The ex-pat South African jockey has become a cult hero for punters here in the past 18 months and goes into today’s meeting leading the jockeys’ ranks on all three metrics: wins, black-type wins and stake money won.

Kennedy is 13 clear of Michael McNab on the wins table, and has already won more than $5 million in stakes – a new New Zealand record and $200,000-plus clear of Craig Grylls, who along with Joe Doyle has had a huge big-race winning season.

Kennedy also has 16 black-type wins, always a source of pride in the jockeys’ room, with Doyle and Opie Bosson on 12 each; none of Bosson’s Australian heroics this season count on the New Zealand scoreboard.

To lead the premiership on three different levels is nothing short of remarkable considering Kennedy was completely unknown here 20 months ago.

He has set his sights on winning the overall premiership and has a target in his head at which he thinks he will be comfortably on his way.

“I would like to get a break of 15 on Nabba [McNab], or anybody else who is chasing, to feel comfortable about the premiership,” says Kennedy.

“So until that happens I will still ride at most of the South Island meetings but if I can get a decent break on the field then I might be able to ease up in July.”

By then the black-type premiership will be as good as won with few of those races in the depths of winter while the big stakes also start to dry up, although in that premiership Grylls and Doyle at least have a shot at overhauling Kennedy.

That is why days like today at Te Rapa, with black-type and $150,000 feature-race stakes, are so important and Kennedy thinks he has the right equine ammunition to further his ambitions.

December is the favourite for a stacked $100,000 Cambridge Breeders Stakes and Kennedy has a high opinion of the three-from-five winner.

“He was really good last start and I think he is a group horse, maybe even a Group 1 horse one day,” he told the Herald.

Kennedy isn’t so sure about his winning chances in the $150,000 Travis Stakes as his mount Saint Alice meets a hot favourite in Apostrophe but the superstar jockey says punters shouldn’t be worried about her stepping back up to 2000m from 1600m.

“She won well at 2000m two starts ago and while she hasn’t raced for a while I rode her in trackwork on Tuesday and she is fit and ready,” said Kennedy.

Her $2.10 place price looks like one of the better punting plays of the weekend.

Kennedy’s ride in the moved Manco Easter is going the other way with Snazzytavi down in distance from two recent 2000m efforts back to 1600m today.

“I don’t mind that for her because she can over-race a bit at 2000m and with them going harder over the mile she might settle better.”

The Easter is crammed with winning chances though and Te Rapa track manager Bart Cowan is confident he can provide most of them with a suitable surface.

“We have a soft 7 today but most of the rain seems to have gone so I think we will get back to a soft 6 for race day,” said Cowan yesterday.

“The rail moves back into the true so there will be 10m of ground there that hasn’t been raced on for 12 weeks.”

That coupled with a new track renovation that saw 194 tonnes of sand added to the Te Rapa surface should have today’s track providing as good a footing as can be hoped for at this time of the year.

Further afield, New Zealand trainers have strong chances in the Australasian Oaks and Robert Sangster Stakes in Adelaide, with both A$1m ($1.1m) races open.