JJ Atkins on the cards for Kinloch

A tilt at the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June could be on the agenda for promising New Zealand-bred 2-year-old Kinloch.

The Kris Lees-trained juvenile impressed when winning on debut over 900m at Newcastle on Thursday, weaving a path from the back of the field to win by a length over Kittyhawk Flyer.

The colt is raced by a number of high-profile New Zealanders including Lib Petagna, Waikato Stud’s Mark and Garry Chittick, Jomara Bloodstock, and bloodstock agent Bruce Perry.

Perry was pleased with Thursday’s result and said while his connections were relatively confident heading into the race, they did have a slight concern about his outside barrier in the 12-horse field.

“I couldn’t have been happier, we were expecting a pretty big run. He has always shown above-average ability,” Perry said.

“The question mark on Thursday was the wide draw. But he needed the run, we had scratched him the previous week because he drew off the course. We couldn’t hold him back any more really, so we had to throw the dice.

“It was only 900m, so we decided we had to drag him back and ride him for a bit of luck. He ended up making his own luck, which was great, and he duly delivered.

“His closing sectionals were outstanding and just the way he did it. The jockey got off and said that they can’t normally do what he did, so we were very happy.”

The son of I Am Invicible will likely head to Randwick in a fortnight before a decision is made on future plans.

“He will probably go to Randwick in two weeks for a 1200m race,” Perry said.

“From there, we will decide if he needs a break or we press on towards Brisbane for the JJ Atkins, which is back to 1400m this year.

“That is our realistic target providing he does everything right between now and his next run.”

Perry went to $300,000 to secure him at last year’s Karaka yearling sale.

“I had seen all the I Am Invicibles just three weeks before at the Magic Millions,” he said.

“They made a lot of money and I thought this colt was the equal of any of those.” — NZ Racing Desk