The speedy Kencella will use his natural pace when he debuts for his new stable in the $85,000 The July Sprint at Canterbury Park on Saturday.
Kencella will be having his first start for Joe Pride in The July Sprint at Canterbury Park. Photo by Steve Hart.
The front running Kencella will be stepping out for the first for the Joe Pride stable and the trainer says that he is not frightened to take on noted leader Zaratone.
“We won’t be changing anything with him and I am very pleased to see him draw inside Zaratone so that will ensure that we get to lead,” Pride told The Sportsman.
Zaratone was previously prepared by John O’Shea before he became head trainer for Godolphin and then ended up in Chris Waller’s yard at Rosehill before finding his new home with Pride at Warwick Farm.
Kencella has always shown plenty of ability but has been relatively disappointing on race day with six wins from fifteen starts.
The Exceed And Excel gelding won all of his races under the care of O’Shea and then was unplaced from five starts for Waller.
But Pride is hoping his way of training sprinters will suit Kencella who looked good in winning a 740m Warwick Farm barrier trial by seven and a quarter lengths on July 10.
“Finding the right race for them first-up is very important because if you get them feeling confident it is a step in the right direction,” Pride said.
“Not a lot of hard work goes into these sprinters it is just a matter of getting their confidence back and getting them feeling as good as they can.”
“I’ hoping it has worked and we will find out on Saturday.”
At his best Kencella was able to lead all of the way with James McDonald to win the Group 3 $150,000 Bacardi Untameable Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill during the 2014 Sydney Autumn Carnival.
McDonald will team up with Kencella again in The July Sprint for the first time since winning the Untameable Stakes.
Zaratone has been showing his customary speed out of the gates but is yet to win from four starts this campaign with two placings including a last start second with 58.5kg in an 1100m BenchMark 95 Handicap on a heavy 8 at Rosehill on July 4.
The Bjorn Baker trained nine year old has drawn barrier five in the small seven horse field and jockey Hugh Bowman will no doubt let Zaratone run his natural race on the pace.
Even though The July Sprint has only a handful of runners, no clear favourite has been found with the Kris Lees trained Brook Road holding a slight advantage at $2.60 at Ladbrokes.com.au over Zaratone at $3.20 and Kencella at $3.40.
The rest of the field is at double figure odds with Burbero at $10, Decision Time at $14, Judicial Rock at $26 and Straturbo the outsider of the field at $31.
