Trainer Edward O’Rourke hasn’t ruled out a Brisbane winter carnival appearance if promising sprinter Kunnese can get the job done at Hawkesbury on Thursday.
Kunnese was scheduled to make his first city appearance at Warwick Farm on Wednesday but trainer Edward O’Rourke wasn’t prepared to throw his horse into a potentially impossible predicament.
“I was really wanting to take him to town but obviously with the barrier we just couldn’t go there. He’d be sitting three and four wide with no cover,’’ O’Rourke said.
“The plan was that if we had gone to Warwick Farm and won that, we were going to head up to Brisbane for the a Listed race on the 12th of June but we will just have to revise that and see what happens on Thursday.
“If he puts them away pretty well, he’ll probably (still) be heading that up way.’’
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O’Rourke is a long way off declaring Thursday’s Lander Toyota Class 1 Handicap (1000m) as mission accomplished with a couple of seemingly legitimate concerns.
“You have to respect the favourite, Gabby Ellis’s horse Fourth Spargo. She was very good when she won and Brad Widdup’s horse, Party Doll has been good over 900m twice,’’ O’Rourke said.
“The other thing is that Kunnese was disappointing here at home at his first start.
“That said, he pulled up with the thumps and normally horses finish last when that happens.
“So for him to be only beaten two and a half lengths that day, there was more merit than what he has been given credit for.’’
O’Rourke’s three-year-old will one day reach his ceiling, like every horse does, but at this point in time, no one, not even his trainer or his expert owner/breeder Stu Ramsey can rightfully say.
“He is still maturing mentally and physically so hopefully he will develop into a nice Saturday horse,’’ O’Rourke said.
“What level he gets too I am not really sure.’’
Trainer Edward O’Rourke. Picture: Mark Evans
Kunnese is bred to go all the way.
He is a seventh generation descendant of Colin Hayes’ grey mare Deck The Halls via a family which has been an almost constant source of stakes winners for Turangga Stud boss Stu Ramsey.
That said, it’s not hard to see where Kunnese gets his striking and unique colour and markings.
The horse is in every way, shape and form his father’s son.
That father being none other than Better Land, a racehorse whom we never saw the best of.
“I remember Peter Moody had him,’’ O’Rourke said.
“He got knocked down in the Golden Rose by one of Gai’s who I was working for Gai at the time.
“Kunnese is a dead ringer for him.”
O’Rourke, meanwhile, will saddle-up two others for Ramsey and co at Hawkesbury on Thursday including the Rubick son and debutant Lord Of Wexford who steps out in the opening race over 1300m.
“I think he is going to make a nice 1400m/miler eventually but 1300m he has definitely got enough gears for that.
“He ran home in 33 in his trial so I am looking forward to him going around.’’
Stable plotting double play
Lightly-raced stablemates Leandra and Ruby Flyer have Midway appointments in the coming weeks and months but not before adding to their bank balances and enhancing their reputations at Hawkesbury on Thursday.
The pair are among a number of progressive horses in the Jason Attard and Lucy Keegan-Attard stable.
Ruby Flyer was a booming last-start winner while Leandra was totally devoid of luck at the midweeks.
All things being equal, the co-trainers should be bookending the hometown card with Leandra to fire the first shot.
“The only reservation we might have is the barrier as queer as that sounds from barrier one.’’ Keegan-Attard said.
“In a perfect world we would have picked between four and six for her but Rachel (King) knows the horse, she knows what she has got underneath her and she knows her capabilities.
“In terms of what she has achieved already, she ran a nice second at Canterbury last preparation.
“When resuming this preparation also at Canterbury, she was following the short-priced favourite in the race but it ended-up coming back into her lap so it was just a bit of rotten luck.
“She’s on song, she’s well and hopefully the home track will provide a nice advantage and she should get the maiden done and out of the way.’’
Stablemate Ruby Flyer shed her maiden status in the most emphatic style, putting 5½ lengths on his rivals at Wyong on April 27.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the other horses that were in that race but I think he deserved to win it that comfortably,’’ Keegan-Attard said.
“It is always a bit of a question mark when you step them in distance but he has got a bit of quality about him.
“Jason used to train the mother, Kellyville Flyer, she was a full sister to Sons Of John so the family have obviously got something there.’’