McCarthy thinks he has found his next Grand Circuit star

LUKE McCarthy thinks he has found his next Grand Circuit star on the track.

The champion rider Kingman (Always B Miki) has the qualities to follow in the footsteps of previous stable stars such as King Of Swing, Mr Feelgood, Bling It On, For A Reason and others and make a real splash at the highest level.

The four-year-old, who has four wins and a second from six starts to his name since joining McCarthy’s stable, steps into Grand Circuit racing for the first time in the $250,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup on Saturday evening.

And it’s a hot favorite at $4.50, behind only the great Leap To Fame ($1.80).

“He’s a very serious horse. He’s going to get better and better over time because he’s only four, but he’s in a great place for this race,” McCarthy said.

“It’s the right time to give a race like this a try.

“He is fast and strong. I will drive him very positively and look carefully at the lead now that we are so well drawn (gate four). You have to take advantage of those draws.”

Kingman showed he could match Grand Circuit players when he easily trailed the mighty Swayzee, last year’s Victoria Cup winner, during his final run at Menangle.

“He did it easily, too,” McCarthy said. “I know Swayzee wasn’t at his top, but we had him deep into the race and my guy was so strong on the line.

“I give him a big chance this week, especially now that Leap To Fame was drawn so clumsily.

“If I get to the front and Leap To Fame comes looking, there’s no way I’m giving up more than 2,240 meters around Melton.”

After this week, Kingman looks set for more stoushes with Leap To Fame in the Sunshine Sprint and Blacks A Fake at Albion Park in December.

McCarthy is also hoping for a bold performance from his young star Hesitate in the Group 1 Victoria Derby on Saturday.

“Gosh, it’s a strong Derby, isn’t it. There are a lot of chances and he’s one of the better ones,” he said.

“He ran well last week, but will get much better from it. I deliberately put him in a bit short, so that the run completes him.

“If he can pay cleverly, he will reach the finish straight away.”

In other stable news, former Inter Dominion and Miracle Mile winner Don Hugo is close to a return to racing after a trial at Penrith last night.

“He will be racing the first week of November,” McCarthy said. “We went to Penrith to practice on the tighter tracks because Tony (Licastro, owner) wants to give him a shot at the NSW Carnivals of Cups bonus,” McCarthy said.

“He will run first to Menangle and a few weeks later to the first leg of the series in Wagga.”

McCarthy said his champion mare Eye Keep Smiling would not race again until the new year.

“She is still at the farm being ‘flushed’ for an embryo transfer,” he said. “She is back to jogging, but her target is the big mare races in Victoria early next year.”

Through Adam Hamiltonfor Harness Racing Australia