Sonofkirk returned to the races with a bang, producing a stunning finish to claim victory at Caulfield, despite a drop in distance to 1000m that many saw as a potential hurdle.
The promising two-year-old, sired by Ole Kirk, had finished third on debut at Flemington behind Miss Ole. On Saturday, he went around as the $4.20 betting site favourite, and while he again began sluggishly under jockey Jye McNeil, he sliced through the field to grab the win by a long head from Oyster Lane ($5.50), with outsider Life After Love ($71) a distant third.
Stable spokesperson Billie Rodda said they hoped for better gate speed from the colt in his second start but acknowledged no extra work had gone into his barriers since his debut.
“We purely put it down to just rawness and being his first start,” Rodda said.
“We came here today in hope that he’d probably jump a little bit better. Unfortunately, he didn’t, but it didn’t matter in the end.”
Sonofkirk’s explosive turn of foot suggested he will thrive over further, and the team is likely to aim him at early three-year-old targets in the spring.
“It was a phenomenal win. He showed a super turn of foot,” Rodda said.
“We just wanted to see him do something like that in which he has, so I’m not sure what the plan going forward is yet.
“We’ll get him home and ensure that he’s pulled up right, but he’s a lovely two-year-old to be taking into the spring races as an early three-year-old.”
Jockey Jye McNeil, recently back from holidays, was also impressed with the colt’s finish after a tricky beginning.
“I was more hopeful that it was just a bit of greenness at his first start and that he’s more educated from that,” McNeil said.
“His reaction time was a little bit slow, but even his first few strides he just had no speed over 1000 (metres).
“I told the owners we were going to be on speed and be a good chance, and here we were near last, sort of ducking and weaving, but thankfully he was well enough equipped to go on and win the race.”
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