Sir Kingsford leads local charge in Gawler Cup on Friday

Sir Kingsford will be “spot on” for his hometown Gawler Cup on Friday despite a lack of suitable lead-up races.

Sir Kingsford winning at his home track of Gawler last year in October. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

Sir Kingsford hasn’t been sighted since a bold run in September’s Balaklava Cup, but he’ll have a bunch of supporters behind him on Friday when he embarks on a hometown mission in the Gawler Cup (1500m).

It’s not hard to spot the local galloper in Friday’s field of 15, driving through the heart of Gawler, you’re likely to stumble across the Kingsford Hotel, a popular retreat for Sir Kingsford’s owners, a local syndicate, who are ready to embrace the thrill of owning a local Cup contender.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

They will all be trackside on Friday, one Gawler expat is even flying in for it.

“The majority of the owners are in the Kingsford Hotel,” trainer Gary Searle, who trains in partnership with his wife Nicole, and daughter, Brianna Callanan, said.

“One bloke, Peter Hill, is out at Crystal Brook, another bloke that was from Gawler, Rod Knight, he lives in Queensland now and he’s flying in for it.

“The rest of the group are mainly locals, we owned the mare, Mighty Maher, and we decided to breed from her.”

A few issues saw Mighty Maher’s racing career truncated, but as a broodmare, she’s delivered multiple race winners.

“The first one was Prancing Ibis, she won a maiden at Balaklava, this bloke’s obviously well above her. We’ve got a three-year-old here by Fiorente out of the mare that looks like being alright too,” Searle said.

“We just decided as a group we’ll have a go at breeding, and Sir Kingsford is what we’ve come up with so far, and obviously he’s done a great job.

“They’ll all be excited, the local blokes, they’ll all be at the races, hopefully he can get the job done for them.”

Sir Kingsford & @KaylaCrowther2 ran them off their feet 🔥

Enchiphering was a terrific closer in second at a big price. pic.twitter.com/j3b8EF5DoC

— Racing.com (@Racing) May 4, 2024

• Kah on The Map ahead of Melbourne Cup

Sir Kingsford finished an honest fourth in the Balaklava Cup, beating home eventual Murray Bridge Cup winner Maracourt.

It was a performance that Searle was delighted with, although placing Sir Kingsford following the run had its challenges.

“I was thrilled with it, it was run at a pretty hectic tempo,” Searle, who trains in partnership with wife, Nicole, and daughter, Brianna Callanan, said.

“I think the horse had a hard run and all the rest of it, but I think he was looking for the 2000m after that run, and there wasn’t anything there.

“We decided being a Gawler horse, we’ll just freshen him up and get him ready for our own Cup.”

With six weeks between runs the stable has kept the son of Sir Prancealot ticking over, with his latest piece of trackwork leaving Searle confident ahead of Friday.

“We put him in the paddock for a week, and he did a couple of weeks of dressage work,” he said.

“We brought him back into the stable and he had his final gallop this morning and galloped super, so we’re really happy with where he’s at for the 1500m. He’s just spot on, he looks really good.”

Sir Kingsford wins the Provincial Pathways Final at Morphettville in May. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

• Guru could be Derby bound after Hill Smith win

Searle has won two of his local Cups, going back-to-back with Lady Silhouette in 2017-18, but is chasing a ‘special’ first win in the feature as a training partnership with his family.

“It would make it a lot more special with Nicole and Brianna being on board, we’re going alright as a team at the moment, we had a good season last season, and have had a great start this season,” he said.

“We’ve got some nice horses here going forward, hopefully we can keep the ball rolling.”

The progressive Sir Kingsford, has now won six races, four at metro-level, including the Provincial Pathways Final at Morphettville in May.

After a slow start to his career, Searle is optimistic there’s plenty more to come.

“He took awhile, his first couple of starts he ran last, a couple of the syndicate members wanted to pull out, (saying) ‘he’s no good, let’s get rid of him’,” he said.

“Even as a younger horse, every now and then he would show me something on the track, and you would think this horse has got it, he’s just got to put it together one day.

“Thankfully, all that did happen.

“He’s just got better as his preps have gone on, I still think there’s a lot more in the tank for him, he’s a very sound horse, I think come the Autumn, he’ll be a better horse again.”

Sir Kingsford will be ridden by Teagan Voorham, and carries 57kg in Friday’s Gawler Cup.

Originally published as Sir Kingsford leads local charge in Gawler Cup on Friday