Powell chases city breakthrough
Trainer Hanna Powell heads to Sandown in search of her first city victory with a horse chasing a third straight victory.
Ultimate Kiss runs for Powell in the ive > Handicap (1300m) on Wednesday after scoring wins at his only two starts back from an 18-month break.
Powell has been training since the late 1990’s and has 50 winners to her credit from almost 580 runners but is yet to crack it for success in the metropolitan area, despite having placings at Sandown with Ultimate Kiss previously.
She is again looking forward to seeing Ultimate Kiss at Sandown.
“I’m not looking forward to the drive there or the drive back, back I’m looking forward to the race,” Powell said.
“He had 18 months off. He had a tendon injury, but he has been in work since mid-January.
“I’m on a 50-acre property and I pre-train them off the quad bike around the hills.
“He had a lot of going up-and-down the hills next to me with me driving the quad bike before he started to gallop seriously.”
Ultimate Kiss resumed with a three-length win at Seymour on July 2 and nine days later backed it up with a 3-¼ length win at Bendigo.
“That would be nice again, but this field is a bit harder,” Powell said.
“I have a very good track rider and she has a very good feel of him, and she says he is feeling better.
“The track won’t worry him, and neither will the outside barrier.
“I’m sure he will come in a bit, but just the way he starts he should have no trouble getting across.”
Being a small trainer with just four horses in work, Powell said it can be difficult finding a rider for her horses.
Ultimate Kiss will have his third rider in as many starts this campaign with Daniel Stackhouse taking the ride.
“Luckily, I’ve found a decent jockey,” Powell said.
“It’s pretty hard when you’re just a small-time trainer because all the big boys, and girls, have all got the good jockeys.
“It was lucky that Daniel Stackhouse was on one of Hayes’ in that race, and I think the story goes that they decided to run that horse in a different race.”
More Racing News
Dan Morton keeps faith with 2024 Railway Stakes mare
Trainer Dan Morton has shrugged aside Super Smink’s horror barrier draw and still thinks she can win the Group 1 Swan Draught-Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. A layer of complexity was added to Super Smink’s Railway Stakes bid after she was handed barrier 18, but Dan Morton is keeping the...
Timing right for Port Lockroy in G1 Railway Stakes bid
He’s one of five interstate raiders and the outsider of the quintet, but co-trainer, Rob Archibald believes there is a sense of timing about Port Lockroy in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Rob Archibald, who shares training duties with Annabel Neasham, says Port Lockroy put himself into Railway Stakes...
Royal task for Gilded Water at local debut
A benchmark race on The Gong undercard will add some Royal flavour to the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting when a horse owned by His Majesty King Charles III makes his local debut. Four-year-old Gilded Water has been sent to Australia to continue his racing career, having started just four times in the...
Improving trio to fly flag for Godolphin at Kembla Grange
Godolphin doesn’t have a representative in The Gong, but James Cummings is content to rely on a trio of up-and-coming sprinters to carry the stable’s hopes at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting. Fleetwood will headline the leading yard’s squad when he resumes in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m), while Pisanello and Restonica contest benchmark...
Jason Collett hoping to find Express lane in The Gong
Jason Collett is resigned to the fact that he will be more reliant on luck than good management as he tries to coax another win out of Territory Express in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The Provincial-Midway Championships Final victor in the autumn, Territory Express has a get-back racing pattern...
Mark Walker aims for ‘new’ hometown Cranbourne Cup
Trainer Mark Walker has a good record when in form New Zealand gallopers land in Australia. Walker’s latest ‘import’ is It’s A Wild Night who will have his first Australian outing in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on Saturday. It’s A Wild Night arrived at Walker’s Cranbourne base just over a week ago...
Trainer Gavin Bedggood chasing Fortune in The Meteorite
Gavin Bedggood hopes the decision to take Oscar’s Fortune to Cranbourne for a midweek gallop will pay off handsomely on Saturday. Oscar’s Fortune runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m), a new ‘slot race’ that Southside Racing, a merged entity of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Clubs, runs for the first time. The former...
Railway Stakes 2024 timing perfect for Baker’s Bel
In-form mare Belclare will need to overcome a wide alley to land her first Australian Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, and connections believe Nash Rawiller is the perfect man for the job. A two-time victor at the highest level in New Zealand, Belclare joined the Sydney stable of Bjorn...
John Stewart eyes Melbourne with 2024 Japan Cup fancy
Goliath faces one of the toughest tasks in racing this weekend, beating the Japanese at home in their biggest race, but John Stewart is already planning his next moves with his star recruit and Australia is on the itinerary. The ambitious American has quickly become a powerful investor in Australian racing and...
Hedged poised to give The Warra rivals a trim-up
The Magic Millions carnival is the campaign focal point for promising sprinter Hedged, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping he can knock off a feature race along the way. The gelding will resume in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday, his first start...
