VICTORIA Cup winner Kingman (Always B Miki) has gone from likely to likely for the $1 million IRT NZ Cup.
The rising star of Australian pacing impressed trainer-driver Luke McCarthy today with his first standing start test in a Menangle trial.
“He got away well… I was really happy,” he said.
“It’s a tick from me for NZ, but Mick (Harvey, owner) will make the final decision.
“We talked and he wants 24 hours to weigh everything up.”
After getting away well, which was all that really mattered, Kingman lapped the 1,609-meter stage in a mile of 1:54.9 seconds.
“He felt good and sharp. He came through the Victoria Cup well,” McCarthy said.
“I gave him a few easy days after that, but he has had a good build-up so he is very fit.”
If Harvey signs off on the trip, Kingman will be on the last flight from Sydney to Christchurch, via Auckland, on Sunday week.
It is the same flight that Swayzee took last year and will be booked again this year.
“I love it. I prefer to be there right before the race,” McCarthy said.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s no different than going to Brisbane or Melbourne for a race.”
McCarthy said Kingman would have a two-race campaign in NZ if Harvey committed to the trip.
“Of course the cup, but three days later we wouldn’t be participating in the free-for-all,” he said.
“That second run would take place ten days after the cup at the Christian Cullen.
“It would make sense to stay and do that if we were going all the way to the other side.
“If he goes he will have those two runs and miss the big races in Brisbane in December.
“We would bring him home and focus on that series of Cups in Victoria from early January.”
It’s a busy time for McCarthy with his Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion winner Don Hugo ready for a return to the track.
“You’ll see him in Menangle on Saturday,” he said. “He has come back really well and needed that break after a busy start to the year.
“His first targets are those NSW (Carnival of) Cups and then we’ll move on from that.”
The first leg of the series is in Wagga on November 14.
By means of Adam Hamilton for Harness Racing Australia
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