Gary Portelli chasing 2024 The Everest start for Kimochi via Group 1 Manikato Stakes at The Valley

Kimochi being a shade short of full fitness for her audition for The Everest won’t worry Sydney trainer Gary Portelli ahead of Friday night’s Group 1 Manikato Stakes at The Valley.

Warwick Farm trainer Gary Portelli won’t mind if valuable mare Kimochi is a shade underdone in his mind for her The Everest audition in Friday night’s Group 1 Manikato Stakes.

Portelli has the brief of securing a Group 1 win with Kimochi after her seven-figure sale to prominent Victorian-based breeder Yulong earlier this year.

The Sydney horseman will send Kimochi south as she aims to break through at the highest level at her sixth attempt at the highest level while pressing her claims for Yulong’s slot in The Everest.

“Yulong have bought her to try to win a Group 1 and, whilst the Manikato is probably not the race that looks perfect for her by any means, it’s still a Group 1,” Portelli said.

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Kimochi’s three wins have been when first-up, so Portelli has kept the mare fresh since her game win in the Group 3 Toy Show Quality (1100m) at Randwick.

Portelli said Kimochi was one of those horses that performed at her best when a touch short of peak fitness.

“When I’ve had her fresh and she’s won, in my mind, she’s been underdone and that’s the best way to have her,” Portelli said.

“Because she’s so athletic and so clean-winded, you can do too much going into a race with them sometimes.

“You can take the speed out of their legs by working them too hard and trying to get them too fit.

KIMOCHI wins the Toy Show Quality!

Jason Collett guides the @GaryPortelli trained mare to a tough first-up win in the Group 3 over Commemorative with Mumbai Muse a close third. @[e-mail]/hDeZXkGrNv

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) August 24, 2024

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“The 1200(m) for a horse that can get out to a mile is a walk in the park for her so what I’ve got to do is keep the speed there and the power there.”

Portelli said Kimochi had put on weight since her first-up win at Randwick but worked well on Saturday morning.

The trainer said the Manikato Stakes, which is run four weeks earlier this year, was now positioned perfectly for a horse like Kimochi, for whom he had multiple options back in Sydney.

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“It just worked out better in the program for either The Everest or the Golden Eagle,” Portelli said.

“I don’t want her flat going into the Golden Eagle, I want her with plenty of leg under her.

“Going this way, she can go around this weekend then a fortnight into The Everest if she happened to win and Yulong or someone else takes her.

“If not, there’s the Silver Eagle then we go into the Golden Eagle.

“It just works out that we’re not getting to the Golden Eagle cooked.”

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Ladbrokes rated Kimochi as a $20 chance in Manikato Stakes betting after she drew barrier six for the $2m event.

However, those odds were well short of the $71 that was available about Portelli’s previous Manikato Stakes winner Rebel Dane.

Ben Melham steered Rebel Dane to his shock Manikato Stakes win in 2016 while Jason Collett will be aboard Kimochi in this year’s edition of the feature sprint.

Breeding buffs will note Kimochi’s sire Brave Smash won the Manikato Stakes with Hugh Bowman in the saddle in 2018.

Originally published as Gary Portelli chasing 2024 The Everest start for Kimochi via Group 1 Manikato Stakes at The Valley