Plumaro acquired taste for owners

KEVIN Kemp did not think much of Plumaro the first time he laid eyes on her, but with $ 126,000 already in the bank and the potential for another $ 152,500 today, she’s now the apple of his eye.

Plumaro is rated a $ 2.20 chance with Ladbrokes to win today’s QTIS Jewel ( 1200m) on the Gold Coast.

Kemp said the filly had done everything right since her last start Doomben win and would head for a break to be prepared for a possible winter tilt after today.

“She’s unreal. She just loves it,” Kemp said.

Plumaro cost just $ 20,000 as a yearling and Kemp has Chris Mahaffey to thank for not only ending up in his stable, but buying into her.

Kemp originally did not think a lot of Plumaro when he first saw her at the sales.

“She was only small and narrow,” he said.

“But Chris just kept pestering me that much and when I went back to look at her at Eureka ( after the sale) she started to grow on me.

“This was well before we knew if she could gallop and my wife Judy took a real shine to her and we ended up buying into her.”

The filly is raced by a sizeable team, some of which are first time owners and Kemp likened the post- race celebrations for her last start Doomben win akin to winning a Melbourne Cup.

Kemp noted that half of Plumaro’s earnings to date had come in QTIS bonuses.

“Prizemoney is always talked about in Queensland, but we’re very lucky to be racing for some of these bonuses,” Kemp said.

“The QTIS money is amazing. To have a restricted $ 250,000 race like this is fantastic and then you’re also racing for other good bonuses every week.

“It’s why we go to the sales to buy these QTIS horses.”