Caption: Warren Nicholls’ Kia Kaha on the way to success in the Golden Chase Sprint (431m) at Ipswich on Saturday night.
By Pat McLeod
Experienced South-East Queensland trainer Warren Nicholls is hoping to emulate the 2023 success of Greg Stella’s Magistrate in the Ipswich Auction Series following a record-breaking ‘Round 1’ win to Kia Kaha on Saturday night.
Last year Magistrate won both the 431m and 520m features of the Auction series, now rebranded as the Golden Chase Sprint (431m) and the Golden Chase (520m).
Nicholls said the $100,000-to-the-winner 520m finale (April 13) was now his target after Saturday night’s comprehensive performance in winning the 431m event.
The daughter of Zipping Garth-Daniel’s Loss not only stormed home to win by four and a quarter of lengths over Another Level (Gerard Bowe) and Johnny Koala (Jemma Daley), but also set a new mark for that race at 24.78.
(The previous best for that race was set in 2021 by John Catton’s Little Byrnes at 24.81.)
“We’ll go into next week’s Rising Stars series (520m) at Ipswich if she pulls up Ok,” Nicholls said.
“But the priority is the is the Golden Chase 520m event.”
There was always going to be plenty of quality and quantity in this year’s Golden Chase events following the announcement in 2022 that the graduates from that year’s auction would be racing for bumper prizemoney in 2024, including $100,000 to the winner of the 520m race.
Nicholls’ latest kennel star earned favouritism for Saturday night’s final on the back of wins in both the heats and semi-final.
“I thought I was a big chance in the race and when she jumped in front my confidence lifted, particularly as Comedy Act didn’t jump as well tonight,” he said after the $14,000-to-the-winner race.
“Kia Kaha is definitely a little race dog.
“She’s very consistent and puts in 100 per cent. She just wants to race.
“Her first section in the final was brilliant. She put it all together when it mattered.”
Nicholls said Kia Kaha’s maturity – her record stands at 23: 11-6-4 and $69,940 in prizemoney – had been a big influence on the result.
“She’d had more starts than some of the others,” he said.
“She’s more seasoned and that’s a big advantage in finals.”
Mick Johnston’s Comedy Act, who finished fourth in Saturday night’s final, was the talk of this year’s series after posting a lightning 24.59 in the opening round of heats.
He also won his semi-final, in 24.85.
However, in the final, the Cosmic Chief x Who Nose Size youngster found early interference after jumping from Box 4.
The Churchable-based Nicholls has a strong kennel at the moment that includes the very smart Inconspicuous, who will contest Monday’s Group 3 $112,500 Bundaberg Cup.
Nicholls achieved significant group success with his stand-out distance bitch Days Of Thunder, who retired to the breeding barn late last year after collating a prizemoney pool of $336,365.
