Plenty to like about Kentuckiana’s two-year-olds

Looks can be deceiving when it comes to Kentuckiana Lodge’s class of 2026 two-year-olds.

Cran and Chrissie Dalgety’s latest crop of equine talent hit the trial track for the first time at Ashburton last week, ticking all boxes required by their trainers.

Roger That and On Ya Bike went to the post together, ahead of Tour Party and The Visionary.

The results may look clear-cut to the casual observer, but Cran Dalgety insists they may not be a true reflection of the depth charts at Kentuckiana Lodge.

“It was a nice first outing for all four of these boys and we were thrilled to see them do everything right.”

“It is a learning curve for them and they will all be a lot wiser for having a spin around.”

“I wouldn’t be reading too much into who finished where because they are all fairly evenly matched at this stage.”

“Tour Party and The Visionary finished behind the other two, but they’re lovely horses and we like them.”

“They’re by Bettor’s Delight and we know what happens when they go from the trial track to the race track.”

The Kentuckiana squad will trial again next week before their immediate targets are confirmed.

“Rather than go straight back this week, we thought we would give them an extra week to progress and we would get a pretty fair line on who might go where,” Dalgety said.

“It is probably not a question of who is better than who, it’s about who is ready to advance at this stage to hit the racetrack in the Young Guns Series in Auckland or who is better placed to keep building at home and attack targets in Canterbury.”

The lucrative Young Guns Series at Alexandra Park comes amid what will be a busy time for the Dalgety barn.

They’ll have Republican Party across the Tasman aiming to go two better than his third placing in last year’s Hunter Cup, plus the national yearling sales – where all four of Kentuckiana’s trialists were sourced from.

“We are lucky that we have great bases to stay at and great people supporting us when we travel,” Dalgety said.

“There are plenty of logistics to work out when you have horses aiming at feature races, but it is one of those good problems to have.”

Roger That, On Ya Bike, Tour Party and The Visionary were among the 11 yearlings Kentuckiana Lodge purchased at last year’s national yearling sales.

The Dalgetys plan to be just as active at this year’s sales, next month.

“We are busy doing our prep work now, we’ve seen some lovely types so far and hope to have the circle around a few more.”

by Jonny Turner, for Harness Racing New Zealand