King Kevin was looking to pick up a fifth win of the all-weather campaign when he headed back to Wolverhampton yesterday evening. The Midlands venue has been a happy hunting ground for the son of Holy Roman Emperor and although he suffered ill luck in running on his latest start there, he had won on his three previous starts at Wolverhampton. King Kevin had been in the first three on his previous ten starts and has been a model of consistency throughout the Winter.
He broke well from his wide draw and Havlin was able to tuck King Kevin in behind the main pack, two horse widths off of the rail. Dream Magic was able to set his own fractions out in front and the rest of the field tracked him. At the three furlong marker Mullen started to wind up the tempo and his rivals started to rally their mounts to get to Dream Magic. The leader was not stopping in front and held a two length advantage heading into the home straight with King Kevin having to attack six wide around the bend. As they raced into the final furlong the leader continued to hold a two length advantage with King Kevin on the outside of six horses that were trying to wear him down. Our gelding started to close at the half furlong marker and when he sensed he was close to the lead he started to stretch his neck out and was on top by that margin at the line.
This was a gutsy performance from King Kevin and he did well to pick up the winner as Dream Magic got the run of the race from the front. The handicapper cannot be too hard on him given the proximity of the third and we hope that he can win again before he has a well deserved holiday. He has been a flag bearer for the stable over the Winter and has been versatile as he has won at trips varying between nine and a half and twelve furlongs.
Congratulations to all of the team here at La Grange. It is now just a little over a week until the turf season begins and let’s hope that all the hard work everyone has been putting in recently will pay off over the coming months.