Kimetto's ‘Sweet' St Leger Success

CHAMPION Victorian trainer Jason Thompson has lavished praise on superbly bred youngster Aston Kimetto after a sensational last-to-first victory over a star-studded line-up in the Group 3 Warragul St Leger Final (460m) last Sunday night.

CHAMPION Victorian trainer Jason Thompson has lavished praise on superbly bred youngster Aston Kimetto after a sensational last-to-first victory over a star-studded line-up in the Group 3 Warragul St Leger Final (460m) last Sunday night.

Aston Kimetto, an October '16 son of US sire KC And All and champion stayer Sweet It Is, claimed his fifth win from six starts when storming home to win the St Leger, with trainer Seona Thompson and husband Jason already setting their sights on much bigger targets, headed by the recently announced Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase.

"He's a very exciting dog," Jason Thompson said.

"He's probably as exciting a dog as we've ever had.

"He's very good – there's no doubt about that – and his breeding creates more attention, with his mother (Sweet It Is) being a champion and KC And All is a terrific sire.

"There's a lot of nice races coming up for him – we'll get him ready for the million dollar race in Sydney – and he's only going to get better with experience, so if he stays sound and gets into next year he could be capable of anything."

A member of Sweet It Is' second litter, her first being to Turanza Bale, which included Group 2 Richmond Derby finalist Aston It Is, Aston Kimetto won his first two starts in a maiden heat and final at The Meadows, before running a luckless third at The Meadows at his third start.

The Thompsons then turned their attention to Warragul's $25,000 to-the-winner St Leger and Aston Kimetto made a winning debut at Warragul before coming from last to win his heat in 25.70.

Drawn in box five, as was the case in his heat, Aston Kimetto started at $8.20 in the St Leger Final, with record-breaking NSW sensation Pindari Express the $3.20 favourite, ahead of multiple Group 1 finalist Chief's Empire at $5.30, while Group 1 Harrison-Dawson hero My Redeemer was an $8 chance, underlining the depth of the field.

Aston Kimetto once again found himself a clear last but in a breathtaking display he burst through along the inside entering the home straight and powered to the line, defeating Chief's Empire by two lengths in 25.71, improving his record to five wins from six starts.

"He had a little setback after he got beaten at The Meadows, so we gave him a short let-up and aimed him for the St Leger," Jason Thompson explained.

"For him going forward it was good to give him a grade 5 at Warragul and then into the heats and hopefully the final, which worked out perfectly. The St Leger will lead perfectly into the (Group 3) Puppy Classic heats at Cranbourne on Friday night.

"I thought he could win both weeks in the St Leger but he was probably underrated a bit because of some of the other dogs in the race. But we knew what he's capable of because he's been competing against our best dogs at home. We were able to get 15s and then 12s!

"I've said to Ray (Borda, owner) that it was going to be easier for him when he raced against better dogs because they run truer and have more speed.

"He's definitely a 500m dog and the reason he's slow early is because he's a bad box dog. He's got plenty of speed when he hits the ground but he's always coming out two behind them. He's been like that his whole life but we're constantly working on it.

"He's so good in a field because he's used to it. Since day one we've been putting him against our best race dogs to toughen him up.

"There were some handy dogs in Sweet It Is' first litter but this dog really has X factor. Ray also bought three pups from Sweet It Is' next litter to Fernando Bale (whelped in March this year), so we've got them to look forward to as well."

Aston Kimetto's litter sister, Never Duplicated, trained by Kel Greenough, was a 595m winner at Sandown Park on Sunday, her first win at start four, while another sister, Often Imitated, has won three from six for Brad Greenough.

 

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