Lloyd Kennewell ‘left with little choice’ but to move remaining horses from Adelaide to Melbourne at end of January

Lloyd Kennewell will close his Morphettville stable at the end of the month, citing the State Government’s sponsorship withdrawal and TRSA infrastructure cuts as sealing his decision.

Jockey Joe Bowditch rides Jedastar to victory in the New Year Plate at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday. Picture: AAP Image/Quentin Lang

• Double hit for SA racing in 2019
• Kennewell’s climb up the Australian training ranks

Lloyd Kennewell will close his Adelaide stable at Morphettville at the end of the month.

Kennewell, one of Australia’s most promising young trainers, has made the decision to move the majority of horses to Melbourne after meeting with staff, contractors and the SAJC on Wednesday.

Kennewell will be moving his stable into a new 30-horse barn at Caulfield on February 1 and said the recent decision by the State Government to withdraw $3 million in sponsorship from SA’s Festival of Racing and TRSA announcing a further $2.25 millions in cuts from infrastructure in 2019 sealed the decision.

Jockey Joe Bowditch rides Lloyd Kennewell’s Jedastar to victory on New Year’s Day at Flemington. Picture: AAP Image/Quentin Lang

“There is some very disappointing news coming out of Adelaide in regards to funding and prizemoney cuts the Government have made,’’ Kennewell said in a statement,

“We are already below the prizemoney levels compared to the eastern states, and our costs a that much different which really hurts the industry.

“It is very sad to see this happen in such a historic state, there is no doubt the future of racing in the state is in turmoil,’’ Kennewell said in a statement.

Kennewell said he was left with little choice but to try and grow his business in Melbourne.

“I will be looking at moving all horses in training to the Caulfield base but I will be discussing each horse’s future and what my plans are with them in the coming weeks with all their respective owners,’’ Kennewell added.

Trainer Lloyd Kennewell after Jedastar won at Flemington. Picture: AAP

“I feel we have a great team of young horses in our system on the rise and with this I have no doubt we doing the best thing for our business and also by our owners,’’ he said.

Kennewell made the move to Caulfield back in August and the opportunity to move into a bigger stable was always on the cards.

“We made the big move and turned our attention into opening our stable in Melbourne,’’ Kennewell said.

“This was to allow us the chance for our business to blossom and grow in a state where racing is very strong, competitive but most of all rewarding for everyone involved.

“In five months we’ve had success with out small team all over Victoria, also at metropolitan level; and added our first group 1 winner (Viddora) out of our Caulfield stable.”

Kennewell unearthed another future star at Flemington on New Year’s Day with exciting two-year-old Jedastar winning impressively at Flemington.

Kennewell said the horse would have a quick freshen-up before being aimed at the $2 million Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield on February 23.