Top Australian jockey Craig Williams has been given the task of advising the connections of Kelinni if the stayer should join stable mates Seismos and Dandino as a Melbourne Cup candidate this Spring.
Kelinni could return to Australia for another attempt at the Melbourne Cup. Photo by Steve Hart.
Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock director Darren Dance has engaged Williams, who is spending a short time riding in England, to ride Kelinni in the £80,000 Summer Stakes (2800m) at Goodwood on July 29 with the view of rating his chances for a return to Australia for the Melbourne Spring Carnival in run in the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 4.
“We have just got him up to 2800m, which is his distance and we have got Craig on him to tell me whether he is worth bringing out,” Dance told AAP.
“The best I can do is three Cups horses but I don’t know if Kelinni is going to make it because he’s still got to qualify so he’s got to win a decent race.”
Originally from England, Kelinni was with the Chris Waller stable in Sydney from the middle of 2011 until he ran ninth to Precedence in the 2013 Group 3 $300,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington on the last day for the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Kelinni has been back in England since under the care of Marcus Botti where he has been placed once from four starts for the Newmarket trainer.
While under the care of Waller, Kelinni was able to win seven races as he rose through the ranks with his best win being in the 2012 Group 3 $250,000 Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington which gained him a start in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington three days later.
The Refuse To Bend gelding only won one more race after finishing fourth to Green Moon in the Melbourne Cup when he beat Fibrillation in the Listed $100,000 Brookfield Multiplex Japan Racing Association Plate (2000m) at Randwick during the 2013 Sydney Autumn Carnival.
While during last year’s Melbourne Spring Carnival Kelinni was beaten less than three lengths when ninth to Fawkner in the Group 1 $2.5m BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield but was then well beaten when tenth in the Lexus Stakes and ninth in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
In early Melbourne Cup betting Kelinni has been marked as an $81 chance with Ladbrokes.com.au with the Gai Waterhouse trained The Offer heading the market order at $13.
Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock’s other Melbourne Cup contenders are also at long odds with Dandino rated a $34 chance while Seismos is marked at the handy odds of $51.
