Racing: One race at a time on way to big Cup

Amid the hoopla of the Melbourne Cup, Ken Kelso is keeping his feet firmly on the Flemington turf.

His horse, Envoy, is 26th on the order of entry for Tuesday's Cup and the field is limited to 24 runners.

He has to run well in the Saab Quality, a 2500m handicap race at Flemington tomorrow, to convince Kelso he should run on Tuesday. And he has to get into the Cup 24.

There's a tangled web of possibilities that will unravel tomorrow before the Cup field is determined. Envoy will probably make it, if the usual attrition rate from derby day racing occurs.

But Kelso is well aware a couple in the Saab, such as Mr Celebrity (if he wins) or Confectioner (if he wins or places) can leapfrog him.

He would love for Envoy to run in the Melbourne Cup - he hasn't had a runner in the big race in the 27 years he and wife Bev have been training - but he's not allowing himself to think too much about it.

You can tell he respects the cup tradition and its lucrative prize money, and he's had the race in the back of his mind since Envoy ran second in the Adelaide Cup in the winter, but he prefers to play down its significance.

"It's the media that hypes it up," Kelso told NZPA. "The horse doesn't know it's worth A$5 million.

"A reporter asked me if I would buy a new suit for cup day and I said no, I've already got a suit."

Kelso's a pragmatic Kiwi. The Melbourne Cup is two races away. Kelso is a one race at a time man.

So first to the Saab. Envoy has some healthy positives, He has drawn barrier four and he has top Melbourne jockey Steven King.

He ran fourth to Xcellent in the $1 million Kelt Capital Stakes at Hastings on October 1, his first big target after the Adelaide Cup.

So it was off to Australia and last week's Geelong Cup just over a week ago. The plan was to win that and go straight into the Melbourne Cup.

The hitch was that Envoy ran fifth at Geelong. It was a meritorious run, but Kelso thought the horse just peaked on his run in the straight.

So Envoy has to start in the Saab and it's a race that should suit him.

"He just drops the bit and lobs along," Kelso said. "He doesn't pull and he's got a good turn of foot when you ask him for it."

The big negative is the weather. In Melbourne this week it has been raining one minute and sunshine the next. But rain is forecast.

Envoy loves dry tracks. He doesn't perform well on wet ones.

"If he goes well in the Saab and gets in the cup field, he will run. If he doesn't run well (on Saturday), he probably won't run in the cup.

"I don't want him to go around just because it's the Melbourne Cup. I have to think he would be competitive for him to run."

Kelso bought Envoy as a yearling at the Karaka sales in Auckland.

Kelso's former farrier, Rob White, was home from Japan where he was working on contract for one of the major Japanese stud farms and suggested they buy a horse.

"Our budget was for $20,000 and we paid that much for him.

"We were looking for a nice horse that we could turn over quickly and make some money on."

Envoy was a nice type but immature. Kelso and White and their wives Bev and Jane decided against a quick resale and to develop him instead as a racehorse - and then maybe sell him.

He didn't race until he was a late 3-year-old, winning two races over a mile.

"We did get offered a bit of money for him after that but we thought he would develop into a nice stayer, so we rejected the offer."

Wet tracks and immaturity conspired against Envoy as a 4- and 5-year-old, but at the end of last season, he started to confirm his potential, winning a couple of races in a row and then a free air fare to the Adelaide Cup through his victory in the Hawkes Bay Gold Cup.

Things have progressed since. Kelso said Envoy was still developing maturity-wise, but this was the right year to target Melbourne.

He ran second at Adelaide, beaten six lengths by Demerger and it was a huge run.

The Kelsos have been successful horse trainers for many years. They were accomplished showjumping riders before becoming involved in racing. Bev took out a trainer's licence at Tauranga, while Ken worked as a consulting engineer.

Twenty seven years ago they moved to Matamata "where the horse racing action was".

The Kelsos have between 10-12 horses in their stable most times and pre-train horses for owners in Hong Kong and Australia.

- NZPA