Kennewell seeks jackpot at Adelaide's Morphettville finale
With victories secured over the first two days of the Adelaide Carnival, Lloyd Kennewell looks to build on that form for a significant score at Morphettville on Saturday.
Vangogh Bankcheque took out a race on the Australasian Oaks/Sangster Stakes program on April 25, as did Straand Deal for Kennewell during last Saturday's South Australian Derby meeting.
Born and bred in South Australia, Kennewell savors his journeys home from Cranbourne and yearns to claim a Group 1 prize in his home state to bolster his achievements.
Kennewell saddles Meridius in The Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday, the last Group 1 of the Adelaide Carnival, plus Kokako in the Group 3 Proud Miss Stakes (1200m) and Howcani Resistyou in the Group 3 David Coles AM Stakes (1200m).
Meridius will be tackling Group 1 company for the third time, his first since age three when he lined up in the Caulfield Guineas and Coolmore Stud Stakes last spring in 2022.
Post a Gold Coast stint at the Magic Millions Carnival in January, Meridius has had a pair of starts leading into The Goodwood.
Meridius notched a first-up win at Caulfield at 1200m on March 21, then was a close third after bad luck in the Group 3 Victoria Handicap (1400m) there on April 4.
"He's going good and probably should have won the Victoria Handicap," Kennewell said.
"He's won there, he knows the place well and I'm keen to run him in it as well, plus I'm very happy to have some nice runners when I head back home again."
The trainer has turned to top Perth-based rider Chris Parnham for assistance.
He explained the scarcity of available top jockeys for the Goodwood meeting prompted his choice.
"There weren't many riders going over to ride on Goodwood Day which I thought was quite interesting," Kennewell said.
"Mark Zahra wasn't going, neither was Craig Williams, Jamie Melham was going to ride mine, but she's up on the Gold Coast to ride Half Yours.
"There was a lot going on with riders, so I wanted to get on the front foot and get a very good rider, and Chris is an 'A grader'.
"We've got a bit of a relationship with him, so he's going over, and we're very happy to have him on."
Check the online bookmakers for competitive racing odds on The Goodwood.
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