Kingdoms to undergo vet test before Hills Stakes

Trainer John O’Shea expects his Metropolitan aspirant Kingdoms to be passed fit to run in the Group 2 $200,000 Bacardi Hill Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday.

Prince Cheri

Kingdoms finished 10th to Prince Cheri, above, at Rosehill first up. Photo by Steve Hart.

New South Wales racing stewards will get their vet, Dr Craig Suann to inspect Kingdoms on Saturday morning after O’Shea reported that the gelding had suffered a minor injury to his off fore hoof.

O’Shea said that the four year old had not missed any work because of the problem and expects him to be passed fit to take his place in the Hill Stakes.

The lightly raced Kingdoms is heading towards the Group 1 $400,000 McGrath Estate Agents The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick on October 5 and a win on Saturday will help him climb up the order of entry for the Sydney Spring Carnival feature staying race.

Even though Kingdoms has only won one race, O’Shea is confident that the four year old will be able to mix it with the weight for age gallopers  and points back to his three year old season when he competed in the best company.

O’Shea put Kingdoms up against the top three year olds in the Autumn when fourth to It’s A Dundeel in the Group 1 $500,000 M. J. Bale Rosehill Guineas (2000m) at Rosehill before he ran third to the super Kiwi colt again in the Group 1 $1.5m David Jones Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick.

“I know he’s coming from a handicap to weight-for-age but it’s not a big deal,” O’Shea told AAP.

“He was running around at level weights as a three-year old.

“He was stakes placed behind  It’s A Dundeel  and doing a bunch of things wrong.”

O’Shea sent Kingdoms out for a short break after running third to Usainity in the Group 3 $125,000 Johnnie Walker Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Randwick on April 27 and said that he is a different horse after being gelded.

“He’s a lot better to handle and the operation has also made a difference to his attitude to racing,” O’Shea said.

Kingdoms has had one run back a spell and even though he finished six lengths behind Prince Cheri when tenth in the 1500m Benchmark 95 at Rosehill on August 31, O’Shea was happy with run after he was held up in the straight on a number of occasions.

I was happy with him the other day,” O’Shea said.

“I thought he would have won if he’d gotten a bit of luck.”

Kingdoms is on the third line of betting for the Hill Stakes at $4.80 behind the Chris Waller pair of Moriarty, the $2.90 favourite and Bayrir at $4.40.

And in Metropolitan betting, Kingdoms has been marked as $18 chance behind Moriarty at $6.50 and Prince Cheri at $7.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.