Kem poise for future growth — trainer Paul Swaby
FOLLOWING Kem’s encouraging win in Division Two of the George Hosang Trophy on Saturday, February 3, 2024, trainer Paul Swaby believes his four-year-old chestnut colt will continue to grow and compete competitively in future races.
With Tevin Foster in the irons, Kem outlasted the fast-finishing Bazinga (Oneil Mullings) by a neck in a drive to the wire. Joy Is Golden (Dane Dawkins) was a length adrift in third place. The race was a native-bred four-year-olds and upward (non-winners of three) and imported four-year-olds and upward (non-winners of two) at 5 ½ furlongs.
“He [Kem] just turned four, and he is improving with each run, but there is a long way to go. I expect further improvement from him coming down the line,” Swaby told the Jamaica Observer’s The Supreme Racing Guide.
Joy Is Golden dashed to the front of the field at the off and held the lead ahead of Kem and Bazinga running the inside rails. Kem continued to trail Joy Is Golden going into the halfmile (800-metre) turn before hitting the front shortly after turning for home.
With Joy Is Golden refusing to give up in the deep stretch, a battle for supremacy then developed between the two runners. Kem then began to pull away inside the final furlong (200m) but had to withstand the late surge of Bazinga. The final time was 1:08.2 (23.2 x 47.0).
“I think the performance was good; seeing that he ran a couple of races back-to-back and then came back this week to run again speaks volumes about him.
“We came confident today seeing that the only other speed in the race was Joy Is Golden.
We just had to break sharp and sit just off him and then attack the last two furlongs. He is going up in class, so we will take it one day at a time,” Swaby said.