Odds are all against Kawi

A victory celebration would come as a surprise party to Allan Sharrock this weekend.

The New Plymouth trainer has Kawi in Saturday’s Railway Stakes at Ascot but the conditions of the feature mile have blunted his confidence.

“If he won then he would exceed my expectations,” Sharrock said. “It’s a handicap and he’s got to carry 58.5kg and he’ll be giving the one that won the other day four kilos and not two.”

He was referring to Perfect Reflection, who was successful in the Lee Steere Stakes, in which Kawi finished a respectable fourth.

“He blew out noticeably and it was 37 degrees,” Sharrock said. “He got over there late and he had very little fast work in the week before the race but I’m happy with him.”

Kawi, who is in the care of his regular strapper Emma Davies in Perth, will again be ridden by Michael Walker.

“This is the race of the three that I always thought would be the biggest battle,” Sharrock said.

“I honestly can’t see him winning at the weights but I would like to see him hitting the line strongly and I expect him to be doing that. He’ll be right for the third one then.”

Also making Kawi’s task that much tougher is the influx of a number of inter-state challengers for the $A1 million purse.

His opposition will include the Chris Waller pair of Good Project and Mackintosh while Darren Weir will be represented by the last-start winner Rageese, partowned by Windsor Park Stud.

Group One performer He Or She, trained by David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, is also in the mix.

Kawi’s Australian campaign ends with thekingston Town Classic on December 3.