Kana turns luck around with deserved win

[Wandering Eyes]

Trainer Peter Didham has found himself in an enviable position after promising mare Kana (NZ) (Tivaci) finally got the raceday luck she deserved to run out an impressive six-length winner over 1200m at Trentham on Saturday.

The four-year-old had been desperately unlucky in her two most recent starts when blocked for a run when seeking a gap between horses and for a split-second on Saturday Didham thought lightning might be about to strike a third time.

Rider Johnathan Parkes had other ideas and guided the daughter of Tivaci through a narrow opening at the 300m before she exploded clear to win with ridiculous ease in the rating 65 contest.

Didham breathed a sigh of relief as he had told the owners of the mare that she was flying in her work and the only thing that might hinder her on Saturday was bad luck in running.

“She really deserved that win as she had been very unlucky at her last two starts and the way she had worked I thought she would be hard to beat today,” Didham said.

“I said to Parkesy that all she needed was clear running, however I won’t repeat what I said when I thought he was going to get trapped in the home straight.

“He got her clear and when she balanced up she just exploded away.

“I’ve had an opinion of her since she first came into the stable and she won impressively on debut as a two-year-old.

“She got into a few bad habits after that and we probably made a mistake trying to run her on the speed in her races.

“This time she has come in as a much kinder horse and she is thriving on having a natural pattern where she can settle and then get home strongly.”

While Didham will take a few days to decide on a new target for his charge, he is toying with the idea of trying her in the big sprint events during the Christchurch Cup Carnival at Riccarton next month.

“Parkesy came back in and said she absolutely thrived racing down the Trentham dogleg today,” he said.

“That would augur well for maybe taking her to Riccarton and having a go at some black type down there.

“I think she will get over more ground in the future, but while she is sprinting so well a race liked the Stewards Handicap (Listed, 1200m) might be right up her alley as she would get in with a nice light weight.”

The Listed Lindauer Stewards Stakes (1200m) is the feature sprint on the last day of the Riccarton Carnival on 18 November.

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