Two-year-old Ole Kirk has scored a fitting debut victory on a race day named to honour a close relation to the colt at Flemington.
Ole Kirk is a daughter of Naturale, an unraced younger sister of unbeaten champion Black Caviar.
Saturday’s meeting was themed Black Caviar The Great Horse Race Day, with the day’s feature the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes.
Black Caviar won successive Lightning Stakes in 2011, 2012 and 2013 during her unbeaten career of 25 starts.
Ole Kirk, a $675,000 yearling purchase, is part-owned by several members of Black Caviar’s ownership group and kicked off his career with a stirring victory in the Listed Talindert Stakes.
All Too Hard, a half-brother to Black Caviar, took out the 2012 Talindert Stakes.
Ridden by Dwayne Dunn, Ole Kirk ($31) scored by a short neck from Nitrous ($6.50) with Mildred ($6) the same margin away third.
Ole Kirk has been nominated for a number of feature Group One races including next Saturday’s Blue Diamond Stakes, although co-trainer Wayne Hawkes said that race was an unlikely option.
“Next Saturday is probably a bit too soon and to be fair we just wanted to see how he ran and take stock from there,” Hawkes said.
“There’s a stack more races than next week, but we’ll take that one today.”
Hawkes Racing’s Melbourne jockey Dunn rode Ole Kirk in the majority of his education work and got extra satisfaction out of the win.
Dunn said the colt had proven a handful in his early days and was in a mood pre-race while still in a playful mood post-race in the mounting yard.
But Dunn said during the race he was on his best behaviour, the attributes of a class galloper.
“I think being in amongst that field, it gave him something to think about, and he turned it on, the sign of a good horse,” Dunn said.
“I think him winning a Listed race today and being related the way he is, they’ll sit back and think about where they run him now.
“It is a fitting result that he has won a race on Black Caviar race day.”
