Warren Kennedy to gain as Michael McNab sits out races

Michael McNab winning on Turn The Ace. Photo / Supplied

Michael McNab’s defence of his New Zealand jockey’s premiership title has hit a serious snag with the champion rider to miss this week’s racing.

McNab, who has won the last two jockey’s titles, had been on a stunning winning run that saw him draw level with his only premiership rival Warren Kennedy at 119-all last week after McNab had been as many as 19 behind during the season.

That saw him shorten into $1.30 to retain the title but a race fall at Te Rapa on Saturday has put the breaks on.

While McNab didn’t break any bones he is still suffering from back pain and has made the call not to ride this week, setting next Wednesday as his targeted return.

“It is still pretty sore so that is the planned return meeting but I will know more and make a decision on that by this Friday,” says McNab.

That means he will miss at least five meetings with jockeys needing to declare themselves available for meeting up to three days in advance as trainers need to be confident when engaging them to ride that they will be there.

So even if McNab feels fine on Friday he won’t ride on Saturday or Sunday as horses racing those days will already have other jockeys engaged.

The setback means Kennedy is likely to ride at four meetings at least before McNab returns but the ex-pat South African rider knows how McNab feels.

“I’m sorry to hear that for Michael but I know how he feels a bit,” says Kennedy.

“I had a fall at Riccarton last week and also have a bit of a sore back and a sprained thumb but they aren’t affecting my riding so I will keep going.”
Kennedy will ride at Pukekohe today but not at Oamaru tomorrow then rides at Awapuni, Tauranga and Te Aroha over the weekend.

“My book for Pukekohe doesn’t have too many favourites but it is looking like I will have some good rides on the weekend,” says Kennedy.

“But at the last week has shown, winning these premierships isn’t easy.”

The premiership runs until the Waverley meeting on July 31, the last day of the thoroughbred season.

McNab’s absence this week means Kennedy and former premiership winner Lisa Allpress are the only jockeys in the top seven on the national table riding this week, with several other big names taking their winter break.

The Pukekohe meeting looks set to race on a Heavy 10 and one horse that shouldn’t worry is Loch Katrine (R7, No.10).

The daughter of Ardrossan won the listed Champagne Stakes in April last year and has been a consistent performer without adding another victory for Matamata trainer Stephen Autridge.

“When she won as a two-year-old it was very heavy and basically every time she runs on that sort of track she’s been in the money,” he told LoveRacing.

“We’re looking forward to the wetter track on Wednesday with her and from now on.

“We’ll have to see where we go now with her, she’s a three-year-old filly but those races are basically finished, so we’ve just got to go through the grades now.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.