Pair of progeny debut for Green at Winton

For those wondering why Kirstin Green isn’t driving at Thursday’s (Aug. 25) harness racing meeting at Winton, I’ll spare you the embarrassment of having asked her whether she was now focusing on her training career!

“I’m still suspended,” she laughed.

“It’s my last meeting on the sidelines and I’m actually really looking forward to getting back in the cart,” she added.

Green takes two first starters to the Winton meeting and for a time it looked like the pair could be race day rivals before the race was split with sufficient fillies and mares to run two races for each sex.

Despite contesting different races, it will still be an exciting watch for owner-breeder, Tom Kilkelly, with both Caldwell (Sportswriter) and Bobbies Rock (A Rocknroll Dance) being the progeny of his former top race filly, Ask McArdle.

It’s not uncommon to see two or even three from the same mare run on the same card and in some instances the same race.

Juliana (Sundon – Janetta’s Pride) had the distinction of providing three of the first four placegetters at an Invercargill meeting in 2017 when Dark Horse, Monty Python, and Father Christmas all ran in the money.

Two progeny from the same mare making their debut isn’t all that common and for Kilkelly and Green, it is an exciting prospect given their association with the mother and each other.

“I drove Ask McArdle in a few starts at the end of her career, and she was a really nice mare to drive. She had great manners and good gate speed and was very easy to get along with,” she said.

Ask McArdle (McArdle – Ask Me Later) showed plenty of ability from the word go racing in the Leonard Memorial at just her third start as a two-year-old finishing where she finished sixth behind Lancome (Courage Under Fire).

She ran second at big odds in the listed Caduceus Club 2YO Fillies Classic on her home track at Ascot Park behind another smart one in Yankee Dream (Dream Away).

She went to the Harness Jewels at Ashburton on the back of three close-up third placings and was half a length away from a Group One placing finishing a very nice fourth behind Gotta Go Harmony (Christian Cullen).

She continued to race against the country’s best fillies and mares throughout her three- and four-year-old seasons before winding up in Australia for four starts where she took her lifetime mark of 1:57.2, retiring with five wins and 14 placings from 40 starts.

It hasn’t been plain sailing for the now 15-year-old McArdle mare at stud having only produced five live foals since retiring as a five-year-old.

“Tom has had quite a lot of trouble getting her in foal and had quite a lot of slips and misses. So, he’s very excited to have two lining up from the mare on the same day,” she said.

Green has had a hand in all the progeny of Ask McArdle which started with her training the first foal from the mare, Bobbies Girl (Real Desire).

“We broke her in, and she was quite a nice filly who was a bit up and down in her form. She showed heaps of ability early on but had a lot of tie-up issues and niggles that held her up from showing her true worth. She won three races here in New Zealand and another five in Australia,” she said.

The second foal was suitably named in the sense that she never really lived up to the family’s ability, at least on the track anyway. Tom Wasn’t (He’s Watching) was retired after only four race day starts.

“She was pretty disappointing, when we broke her in, I thought she was going to be quite nice, but she just didn’t grow, and then she started getting very fierce and pulled very hard. The ability was there but the brain wasn’t,” said Green.

The third foal from Ask McArdle will line up from barrier seven in the third race on the card at Gore this Thursday.

Caldwell, the four-year-old mare by Sportswriter, has had three public runs this month in preparation for her debut after being unsighted for almost 18 months.

“She has shown heaps of ability but like her sisters, she has run into heaps of problems. She has had some bad quarter cracks and then she tore a muscle in her hind quarters which was a shame because she should have been racing last year but we have just had to be patient with her while she recovers.

“She’s nice-natured round the barn like her mother was but can be a bit toey and silly on the track as well but I think that might be the Sportswriter coming out in her. She trialed up good before she hurt herself and has been near enough this time in but is capable of running a place first time up and there is definitely some ability in the tank,” said Green.

Her three-year-old half-brother, Bobbies Rock (A Rocknroll Dance) makes his debut in the sixth on the card and the stable favourite has drawn much kinder over the 2400m journey, coming up with the ace.

“He’s a lovely horse whose much like mother, nothing bothers him and he’s just a lovely natured horse who everybody loves.

“I think the 2 horse (Rapunga Lad) looks pretty sharp, it trialed up pretty smartly in good sectionals last week at Wyndham. But my guy is drawn to give a good account of himself and will be a nice chance from the barrier,” she said.

Win, lose or draw the two half-siblings continue a wonderful partnership between Green and Kilkelly with Green having driven for the former license holder for more than a decade. Her first win for Kilkelly was fittingly behind Ask McArdle and the partnership has gone on leaps and bounds since.

“I started with Tom by driving the odd one at the races for him before going and working for him a while back. When he wanted to step back from training, I wound up private training for him and when I went out public training, leased the stables and track at his property and he’s become my main client. He’s usually got around 8-10 in work at any one time and I’m very lucky to have Tom in my corner, he’s been very good to me,” she said.

She currently sits on 20 training wins for the season which is five ahead of last year’s tally and looks set to grow over the concluding stages of the season. While it has been a quiet winter on the track for Green with her last training and driving success coming almost two months ago, things are starting to ramp up at her Tisbury base and followers can expect to see some of her better-performed runners on the track again shortly.

“Mostly I have a lot of young ones we are working so I might have a bit of a slow start, but the racing team is starting to ramp up with the better weather.

“We have Tommy Waterhouse (American Ideal) and Macndrew Aviator (Panspacificflight) coming up and we are looking at the Hannon Memorial for them,” she said.

“Wattlebank Star (Bettor’s Delight) is a nice mare who can be a bit up and down, but she has come back a lot stronger this time in and we are hoping to get a couple of wins out of her before being served in the spring. We might race her in foal, but it would be good to try and get a couple of wins with her quickly.

“I’ve also got a nice Sweet Lou filly for Bruce Robertson called Louretta and I’ve got quite high hopes for her and would say she is the standout in the barn coming through.”

For complete race entries, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink