Kristen Buchanan isn’t going to accept all the credit if she can train promising mare Kayjay’s Joy to successive city wins at Randwick on Wednesday.
While the well-regarded training skills of Buchanan are helping Kayjay’s Joy confirm her potential, she says the mare’s ownership group led by Keith Orth is also doing its part.
It’s not what is considered a typical trainer-owner relationship but Wyong-based Buchanan has no doubt it’s already a successful one as Kayjay’s Joy goes into the Alan Montgomery Handicap (1400m).
“The owners are really hands on and wanted to have a big input into how we went about her prep and it’s working well,” Buchanan said.
“They have a property nearby where everything that needs to be done can be done.
“It has a swimming pool which Wyong hasn’t got yet. It’s a terrific facility and I train her from there as well as a couple of other horses.”
Kayjay’s Joy was having her second start for Buchanan when she accounted for Britalia Kate at Warwick Farm last month.
It was a victory that took Kayjay’s Joy’s record to three wins in six starts while at the same time helped eased any anxiety Buchanan may have had about getting the best out of the four-year-old.
“That was a relief because she has come with a bit of a wrap behind her so there was that pressure there to deliver,” she said.
Kayjay’s Joy steps out of fillies and mares grade into a benchmark race for all comers on Wednesday.
It’s a class rise made even more difficult because of a wide barrier but Buchanan will be hoping jockey Kerrin McEvoy has some luck in the early stages.
In a race that has more depth than a usual midweeker for restricted-class horses, Happy Clapper ($4.20) holds favouritism over Godolphin’s Lassitude ($5) with Kayjay’s Joy on the fifth line of betting at $8.50.