Star jockey Jamie Kah keen to ride Deny Knowledge in Group 2 Zipping Classic at Caulfield
Jamie Kah is bullish about her chances in the Group 2 Zipping Classic as she looks to make the most of some quality rides in the spring finale at Caulfield.
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Star jockey Jamie Kah has the firepower at Caulfield to set the tone for the second half of the season.
Kah rides Deny Knowledge in the Group 2 Zipping Classic, as well as Godolphin contenders Voile in the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes and Vilana in the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes.
TAB has Voile and Vilana as favourites in their respective races, along with Kah’s other rides Awash in race 2 and Ghaanati in the last on the card, the Listed Doveton Stakes.
• Veteran stayer ‘can definitely win’ Zipping Classic
After a tough spring, on and off the track, future-focused Kah is determined to build momentum into the New Year.
Her hard work to find form, after a well-documented five-month injury break, was rewarded with six winners, the most of any jockey, during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Second stakes winner of Cup week for Pride Of Dubai with the brave Deny Knowledge (6m Pride Of Dubai x The Paris Shrug (GB) (Manduro)) in the Gr2 Matriarch Stakes for @MCKentRacing
â Breednet (@BreednetNews) November 11, 2023
Sire also had the Gr1 Empire Rose winner Pride Of Jenni.@CoolmoreAus@coolmorestud⦠pic.twitter.com/UXQ0F45K6c
Deny Knowledge gave Kah her biggest win of the carnival, victory in the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes.
“I really like her,” Kah said of the Michael Kent-trained mare rated a $5 chance with TAB.
“She’s a very temperamental mare but I think we have worked each other out.”
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Deny Knowledge dictated the Matriarch and responded when headed briefly early in the straight.
She placed fourth in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes seven days earlier at Flemington.
The back-up was instrumental to the win.
“It’s not long between runs (three weeks), because when she’s fresh she’s pretty hard to handle,” Kah said.
“Hopefully they have kept the work up to her and she can do something similar.”
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Duke De Sessa is a $3.80 favourite with TAB on Saturday.
Last year’s Zipping Classic winner Vow And Declare, the 2019 Melbourne Cup champion, and rising star stayer Muramasa, share the second line of betting at $4.20.
History is against Deny Knowledge, with only two mares in the past 20 years successful in the Zipping Classic – Beautiful Romance (2016) and Legible (2003).
Kah has the ideal set up to take her chance on Saturday, with barrier one ideal for Deny Knowledge.
Vow And Declare is the only speed influence in the race after the scratching of Serpentine.
Exciting prospect Shock ‘Em Ova was withdrawn on Friday after a minor setback in track work.
“I was pretty impressed with her (in the Matriarch), takes a pretty tough horse to run the sectionals she does, she got pressured at the top of the straight and she loved it,” Kah said.
“She really kicked when she got pressured.”
Kah, who won the Zipping Classic in 2020 on Sound, galloped Godolphin pair Voile and Vilana at Caulfield last Tuesday.
“The two-year-old (Voile) is a really smart horse,” Kah said.
“It’s been trialling well, but it really impressed me in the gallop.”
Originally published as Star jockey Jamie Kah keen to ride Deny Knowledge in Group 2 Zipping Classic at Caulfield