Kingman skips NZ Free-For-All for Len Smith Mile tilt

Kingman (Always B Miki – Gotta Go Dali Queen) will not back up in Friday’s Group 1 Hill Lee & Scott NZ Pacing Free-For-All at Addington. His connections have decided to bring last year’s New Zealand Cup winner home to Sydney instead.

The five-year-old horse has been scratched from the 1980m mobile. Owner-breeder Mick Harvey has confirmed his next target is the $150,000 Group 1 Len Smith Mile at Menangle on Saturday, November 21, the same night as the TAB Eureka. Harvey said that Kingman would fly back to Sydney early next week. He also plans to take him to Brisbane for the Blacks A Fake on December 5.

The decision means Kingman avoids another clash with Leap To Fame and the Jason Grimson-trained Captains Mistress. Both remain in Friday’s field, along with her stablemates Swayzee and Minos.

The official record will show Kingman finished ninth in Tuesday’s $800,000 Go Media New Zealand Trotting Cup over 3200m, beaten 3.9 lengths by Leap To Fame. That result tells only part of the story.

His chances were compromised almost as soon as the tapes released. Kingman galloped from barrier four, lost a big chunk of ground and settled at the tail of the field on a slushy Addington track.

Harvey said trainer-driver Luke McCarthy found the start a tricky one. According to Harvey, Kingman did what was asked and stood still at the tape, but the rest of the field kept edging forward, so they effectively got a running start on him.

Up front, Swayzee rolled to the lead and Leap To Fame worked forward to sit outside him, with Marketplace following the champion one out and one back.

With more than a lap to run, McCarthy pulled Kingman out and set off around the field three wide, doing all of his own work through the final circuit. He was still in the fight on the home turn.

Harvey said the horse was level with Leap To Fame at the top of the straight before the effort told.

“What an enormous run it was,” Harvey said.

Leap To Fame went on to win by a neck from Marketplace, with Tact McLeod third and Swayzee fourth. The race was run at a mile rate of 1:58.9, with the last 800m in 55.4 and the last 400m in 28.5

LEAP TO FAME REPLAY

Harvey admitted to feeling deflated, but said the run showed Kingman was right back to his best, with plenty of big races still ahead of him. He also rated Leap To Fame among the best pacers he has seen and said that if Kingman could not win, he was happy for it to be the champion.

Before Tuesday, Kingman had won one of his 11 starts this year, with two seconds and a third.

After resuming at Menangle in September, he ran second there on October 3 and fourth in the Victoria Cup at Melton on October 17.

Harvey was quick to add that Kingman has beaten Leap To Fame before, including in the Group 3 Shepparton Gold Cup on January 17, when he led all the way to win by 2.9 metres in track record time, and would keep trying to do it again.

Kingman is trained and driven by Luke McCarthy and was bred by Harvey, who also races him.

Out of the Dali mare Gotta Go Dali Queen, he has now won 16 of his 47 starts, with eight seconds and five thirds, for more than $1.1 million in stakes.

 

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