Kovalica made a welcome return to winning form when he prevailed in a pulsating three-horse finish to the A$1.2 million Gr.2 HKJC World Pool Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
The Kiwi-bred son of Ocean Park was the standout three-year-old of the Queensland Winter Carnival two years ago, winning the Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) and Gr.2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) and placing against older horses at weight-for-age in the Gr.1 Doomben Cup (2000m).
Kovalica went winless in 20 starts through the two years after that Derby success, but regularly performed with credit against elite opposition. He ran second in the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) and Gr.2 Hill Stakes (1900m), third in the Doomben Cup, Gr.2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) and two editions of the Gr.2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m), fourth in the Epsom Handicap, fifth in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) and Gr.1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m), and sixth in the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m).
Saturday was finally the five-year-old’s day. Kovalica spent most of the race at the tail of the eight-horse field, but improved his position coming up to the home turn and came widest of all into the straight.
New Endeavour and Fawkner Park kicked away at the 300m mark to fight it out, but Kovalica was steadily gaining ground on them down the outside. It developed into a three-way shootout to the finish line, which Kovalica won by a short half-head.
“It was a long ride back to scale, making sure that I’d got there,” jockey Nash Rawiller said. “What a horse he’s been. We made a call during the week – as late as Tuesday morning – to put the blinkers on today. You could tell in the run that he was going to do something. He’s so strong. I thought he’d keep going, even though he pulled a bit in the race.”
The Chris Waller-trained Kovalica has now had 30 starts for seven wins, eight placings and A$4.18 million in prizemoney for owners Neville Morgan and David Devine.
“It took the length of the Eagle Farm straight to get there,” Waller said. “First win for a couple of years, but we haven’t lost faith in him and he’s been a good horse without winning. He’s been working to something good.
“He might win his next race again this time next year, if not two years. He’ll be back to Queensland.”
Kovalica was bred by Nearco Stud and was offered in Curraghmore’s 2021 Karaka Book 1 Yearling Sale draft, where he was purchased by Mulcaster Bloodstock for $110,000, Kovalica is out of the Makfi mare Vitesse, a half-sister to triple Group One winner The Bostonian and Group Three winner Cheval D’Or. – NZ Racing Desk.
