The well-travelled King Krovanh will break new ground if he travels to the central districts later this month for a Group Two feature.
The five-year-old put forward a strong argument for a first trip south and a crack at the Ezibuy Awapuni Gold Cup on March 28 with an emphatic win in the opening event at Ellerslie on Saturday.
King Krovanh was making his first appearance since an unplaced effort, a rare failure from the gelding, in the Gr.3 City of Auckland Cup when he ran riot in the White Cliffs Timber Mile Open Handicap.“It was a very good performance and he worked really nicely here last Tuesday and that’s all he’s done since he last raced,” trainer Moira Murdoch said.
“I’d like to take him down to Awapuni next – the 2000 metres there should be right up his alley.”King Krovanh came from last on the bend with a stylish finishing run to put his rivals away for the fourth win of his 16 start career, which also features 11 minor placings.
“I thought he might have been in trouble on the corner when they sprinted, but he did a lovely job,” Murdoch said.By contrast, rider Leith Innes had no such concerns and when he asked King Krovanh to lengthen stride the response was immediate.
“He won easily and all credit to Moira and her staff,” he said. “It was a good effort with fresh legs.”A son of Fastnet Rock, King Krovanh began his career in Victoria with Peter Moody and enjoyed early successes at Cranbourne and Caulfield before joint issues hindered further progress.
He relocated to Murdoch’s beach-based Waiuku operation on the advice of Marcus Corban, bloodstock manager for King Krovanh’s Hong Kong owner Dr Gene Tsoi.
