KEY POINTS:
No matter how many times you replay the finish of the $60,500 Bonecrusher Stakes at Ellerslie yesterday, one thing is for certain, Kildonan should not have won the feature 3-year-old race.
The exciting son of Invincible Spirit lacked racing experience and fitness leading into the 1400m event but
won with the authority and class of a horse destined for higher honours.
Kildonan had only one previous start for an 8 1/2 length maiden 2-year-old victory at Avondale in June yet lined up 15 weeks later and outsprinted a quality field.
Kildonan settled in second-last position against the rail and jockey Andrew Calder elected to stay there improving forward and looking for racing room in the home stretch.
When Calder asked his charge to sprint the response was mouth-watering as Kildonan quickly closed on the leaders, was briefly held up, before being balanced up again and powering home along the inner to win by a head over The Diamond Knight.
A further head away third was the pace-setting Al Qurhah.
Cambridge-based trainer Yves Seguin may not be well known outside the Waikato but punters should take note of his ability to produce fit equine athletes.
Despite lacking experience Kildonan has the manners, balance and speed of a potential top-class racehorse. It is hard to predict if he has the stamina to handle 2400m and the hype of a New Zealand Derby but the manner in which he reeled in rivals over 1400m suggests an increase in distance to 1600 and 2000m would not trouble him.
"This is only his second race and he's a lovely horse to train as he loves what he's doing and he does what you want him to do," said Seguin.
For winning owners Bruce and Maureen Harvey, the victory was a fitting reward for deciding to buy at the ready to run sale.
"Bruce was in Hong Kong when the sale was on and we made the decision to go and buy at the sale and we missed out on a couple of other horses we liked," said Maureen Harvey. "We were keen on this horse and in the end he had to be recycled and put up for auction again after originally being passed in.
"We got him for $56,000 and gave him to Yves to train.
"This horse has a real European temperament and Yves is a French trainer who knows how to handle a horse like him. There has been a lot of interest in him but we're just enjoying the thrill of racing a horse here in New Zealand for great stake money."
Kildonan holds a nomination for the 2000 Guineas in Christchurch and the trip south will depend on the possibility of a direct flight from Auckland to Christchurch.
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Awesome planet made a pleasing return to winning form in style when taking out the $60,500 (Listed) Soliloquy Lodge Stakes.
The daughter of Giants Causeway ran the race of an improver in her last start when fourth on a tricky track at Taupo and won with authority in yesterday's feature 3-year-old fillies race in the hands of Opie Bosson.
Awesome Planet sat handy to the pace and unleashed a blistering home stretch sprint to win by 2 1/4 lengths over Glamorous Girl with a further 1 1/2 lengths back to Shock (third).
This was a pleasing return to winning form for Awesome Planet who gave the indication she would handle the jump up to 1600m with ease.
The favourite Raid settled well off the leaders and made ground solidly in the home stretch to finish fourth, four lengths from the winner and will be another filly to watch when stepping up in distance.
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Troy Harris made the most of Michael Coleman's back injury when teaming up with Sand Hawk to win the $40,000 Mitchelson Cup.
Coleman stood himself down from all remaining engagements yesterday after riding the exciting Morelle into second place in race two.
Sand Hawk was a narrow nose winner over Rural Bank with a further 1 1/4 lengths back to I Command.
The 5-year-old was presented in faultless condition by Ardmore trainers Jenny and Bob Vance. Sand Hawk had not raced in eight weeks and had one trial victory to sharpen race fitness for the 2200m feature.
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Leading apprentice jockeys Craig Grylls and James McDonald fought out an exciting finish to the feature $40,000 Open Sprint with Ebony Babe scoring a long head victory over Martini Red.
Grylls settled the 5-year-old mare well off the speed in the early stages of the 1200m event and this combination stormed home down the outside of the track to hold out the fast closing Martini Red.
A further nose away was Culminate, who hit the lead midway down the straight, with a further long neck back to Volscar.
Te Awamutu trainers Richard and Chris Otto have had a pleasing start to the new season.