Boss Kenny wins for Zev

At the Waikato Bay of Plenty harness racing meeting last night young Cambridge horseman Zev Meredith recorded his first training win with Boss Kenny (Majestic Son).

Meredith stepped the seven year old away nicely and he led for the entire trip, holding on to beat Taylad To Use (Used To Me) by three quarters of a length.

“He’s better off in front because his gait is only 98%. He lacks a bit of speed at the moment but I think it’s there because he has shown it to me. He’s the sort of horse that wants to find the front and will dig in for the dog fight. I think his attitude and the size of his heart will take him a fair way. I quite like the horse,” Meredith said.

Owned by Kenny and Jo Baynes of Eastern Southland, Boss Kenny is the first foal out of unraced One Up Kenny, (Pegasus Spur) which is a half-sister to One Kenny (19), One Under Kenny (11) and One Over Kenny (32).

The trotter began his career with Canterbury trainer Tony Barron who won three races with him before he was sent north. The Baynes race Boss Kenny with Meredith’s partner Neita Balle, daughter of Pukekohe trainer Derek Balle.

The Balle-Baynes relationship goes back over a decade with Derek training Knapdale Girl, Young Colin, Cool Son, Cool Cobber and War Machine, to win races for Baynes.

“Kenny mentioned to Neita that he’d like to send Boss Kenny up north. I saw that he’d won on Cup Day so I told her not to let him pass by. He’d had about eight months off but we got him on a truck. He wasn’t trotting great late in the prep so I talked to Johnny (Morrison) about him. He told me the horse had a good motor but he could be hard to get right, but when you do you’re away laughing.”

Boss Kenny has been up north for seven months.

“We’ve had a few road bumps and hiccups on the way, but we’ve persevered with him and we finally got the chocolates last night.”

Meredith says Boss Kenny has great manners but does need managing.

“His gait wasn’t 100 percent and being on older horse his joints play up a little. We seem to be managing him well enough at the moment.”

Zev uses local horse manipulator Pete Neil and local farrier Logan Ropiha.

“I give him (Ropiha) a rough guide and he puts the right shoes on him to give him a wee bit more support where he thinks he needs it.”

Meredith who works full-time for Arna Donnelly, operates out of his own barn at Cambridge formerly occupied by Colin Butler.

“I wander down and do him (Boss Kenny) in my lunch break. I don’t want to take on too many horses as I’ve only got five paddocks, but I wouldn’t mind taking on a couple of breakers.”

Meredith says he’s never met Kenny Baynes but he speaks to him on the phone regularly.

“He’s a character and a half. He’s pretty laid back. The week before I drove the horse ugly and I told Kenny it was a terrible drive but he told me it was a great drive. He’s cruisey as.”

Cool Phelan (Pegasus Spur) was the Baynes other runner in the race. Driven by Neita she ran sixth.

The night’s racing also saw junior driver Emily Johnson win her first race driving Jasinova (Love You) for Luk Chin who also won with Barsukov (Love You) earlier in the evening.

With the announcement of additional dates in the north for the second half of the current season and into 2025, Meredith is excited about having extra driving opportunities and the likelihood of more junior driver races.

The Auckland, Manawatu and Waikato Bay of Plenty Clubs have gained extra race days.

“I love going down to Palmy. It’s one of my favourite tracks because I can go down there and get half a dozen drives.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink