Kovalica (NZ) Back in Winning Form in Q22

Group One-winning Karaka graduate Kovalica (NZ) (Ocean Park) continued his love affair with the Queensland Winter Carnival on Saturday, capturing the A$1.2m Group Two HKJC World Pool Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm.

Kovalica was offered by Curraghmore in Book 1 of Karaka 2021, where Mulcaster Bloodstock bought him for $110,000. He has had 30 starts for seven wins, eight placings and A$4.18m in stakes – more than 41 times his purchase price.

The Chris Waller-trained Kovalica burst on to the scene during the 2023 carnival in Brisbane, winning the Group One Queensland Derby (2400m) and Group Two Queensland Guineas (1600m) and placing against older horses in the Group One Doomben Cup (2000m).

The quality gelding spent the next couple of years outside the winners’ circle, but was beaten by a nose when second in the Group One Epsom Handicap (1600m) in the spring of 2023 and also recorded top-six finishes in the Group One Cox Plate (2040m), Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), King Charles III Stakes (1600m) and later editions of the Doomben Cup and Epsom Handicap.

He was right back at the peak of his powers on Saturday, launching a sustained finish from the back of an eight-horse field to join New Endeavour (New Bay) and Fawkner Park (Zoffany) in a desperate three-way tussle to the finish. Kovalica lunged at the finish line and prevailed by a short half-head.

“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 ridden to Q22 victory by Nash Rawiller.

“It was a long ride back to scale, making sure that I’d got there,” he  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.”

Kovalica was bred by Nearco Stud and is by Ocean Park (NZ) out of Vitesse (NZ) (Makfi), a half-sister to three-time Australian Group One winner (The) Bostonian (NZ) (Jimmy Choux).