Kennewell likes gate but colt’s poor Wolfgang has drawn

Lloyd Kennewell thinks the world of his colt Wolfgang ahead of the Magic Millions 2YO Classic on Saturday, but says he will need to act more like a gelding if he is to land the $3m prize at the Gold Coast.

Wolfgang’s mind has been on anything but racing in his three career starts to date, with mounting yard watchers getting a glimpse of his coltish behaviour in Brisbane last start.

Kennewell, who trains in partnership with Lucy Yeomans, had the first part of his Magic Millions checklist completed on Tuesday in drawing gate two at the Surfers Paradise Beach barrier draw, which saw him remain rock solid in betting at $19.

Race favourite Storm Boy drew barrier 10, which was enough for bookmakers to trim his quote from $2.50 into $2.40, while second favourite Spywire remained solid at $5.50 despite getting barrier 12.

While the two favourites have drawn outside, Kennewell reckons Wolfgang could get the run of the race as he looked to land the richest win of his career.

“It was perfect, we wanted one to seven and that’s what we got, we couldn’t have asked for more,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get him out of the gates cleanly and he gets a nice soft run in transit.

“If we were drawing wide, it was going to be pretty difficult from out there.”

Kennewell said they had gone through a raft of changes in an attempt to rein in Wolfgang’s behaviour in what will be a packed Gold Coast on Saturday.

“He has been like that in every run so far to be honest. It is the one thing that is holding him back from being a very good colt,” he said.

“He shows us so much at home, I hope he can put it to one side on Saturday and get his antics right.

“We have changed a few things. He won’t be parading in the pre-parading ring and he will have blinkers on.”

It comes as spruik Magic Millions 3YO Guineas (1400m) hope Sydney Bowler was dealt a hammer blow in drawing barrier 17.

The gelding boasts a three from three record, however will be forced to do it the hard way in the $3m feature, while other leading hopes Chrysaor ($5) and Cifrado ($5.50) drew next to each other in eight and seven respectively.