Reigning national champion jockey Warren Kennedy is living in limbo at present as he awaits feedback from various overseas racing jurisdictions who have displayed an interest in him.
After winning the national title last season, Kennedy is under pressure to repeat the feat this term with the rampant Lyle Hewitson currently 59 winners ahead of him.
Kennedy told Gold Circle’s David Thisleton that he would definitely still be in South Africa for the Vodacom Durban July, and he was confident of Summer Pudding’s ability to handle the tight Hollywoodbets Greyville track.
Warren Kennedy – likely to leave SA (Pic-Candiese Lenferna)
Summer Pudding has won eleven out of 12, including three Gr1’s among nine Graded victories.
However, the darling of the South African turf still has her detractors, who point to ten of her wins being at Turffontein and to the form of her Paddock Stakes failure being collaterally similar to her Gra1 Woolavington 2000 victory.
However, Kennedy said there was no doubt whatsoever that the Paul Peter-trained Silvano filly had not been herself in the Paddock Stakes.
He elaborated, “I could feel as far out as 800m that she was not herself. I had the perfect position behind Queen Supreme but by the 500m mark horses were going past us and she felt dead underneath me, yet she only finished five lengths back. And then she later scoped full of mucous which proved there was something wrong.”
Kennedy said about her ability to handle Hollywoodbets Greyville:
“I think she will be fine as she has lost that flat spot she used to have. You must remember that when she ran in the Woolavington she was coming off a stop-start Triple Tiara campaign. The Oaks date kept on changing and she had to be kept on the boil for a long time without a definite race date to work with. Then the Woolavington was just three weeks after the Oaks so we decided to go for that but she was under par. I was at her the whole race, so she was flat and she still won which shows how good she is.”
Turffontein titan! Summer Pudding has an exemplary record on her home track (Pic – JC Photos)
At Turffontein Summer Pudding has reigned supreme, and although most of her wins have not been by wide margins she has always looked to have a bit in hand.
Kennedy was reluctant to name Summer Pudding as the best he had ever ridden, having also ridden the likes of Rainbow Bridge, but he declared: “I would say she is the consistently best I have ridden.”
He has a lot of good rides to look forward to in the SA Champions Season and the ones that immediately came to his mind were MK’S Pride, whom he said would be good anywhere from 1200m to 1600m, the Gareth van Zyl-trained pair of Vernichey and She’s A Keeper, and AJ’S Captain from the yard of his wife Barbara, and her brother Wayne Badenhorst.
The Kennedy’s reasons for emigrating are to maximize their financial security in order to provide the best possible foundation for their children. Their second child is due at the end of this month.
Warren has sent his CV to Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia.
Hong Kong is the ultimate destination for any jockey in the world due to the high earnings potential, but the committee that assesses the applications only sit in May.
Ex-patriot South African jockey Donovan Mansour put Kennedy in touch with the right people in New Zealand. Mansour, a former champion jockey of Mauritius, had a career-ending injury while riding in New Zealand.
The advantage of emigrating to New Zealand is the possibility of attaining a critical work visa, which enables a jockey to not only ride in New Zealand, but also to travel over to Australia to ride.
However, emigrating straight to Australia generally requires a jockey to ride for one stable for a period of two years.
The Sporting Post spoke to Summer Pudding’s trainer Paul Peter on Monday. The top conditioner said he had no information about Kennedy’s plans.
The Peter stable job is one of the plum jockey positions in South Africa and there will be many ready to apply for the vacancy if Kennedy leaves.
- www.goldcircle.co.za – additional reporting by SP Editorial staff
