Less than two years after Warren and Barbara Kennedy made the life-changing decision to emigrate from South Africa, they couldn’t be more pleased with where they now find themselves in their adopted country.
Warren was the republic’s reigning champion jockey and Barbara had enjoyed success as a trainer, so it was a momentous call to leave all that behind in search of a better future for themselves and daughters Jamie Lee and Ryleigh.
A New Zealand jockeys’ premiership for him and a bright future at the helm of an already established stable for her are outcomes that they could only have dreamed of when they landed in New Zealand in October 2022.
It took Warren little time to make his presence felt in the jockeys’ room. By Boxing Day he had ridden his first Group One winner, and when the season ended his tally in just over nine months stood at 76 wins for fourth place on the premiership.
That provided ample incentive to do even better in 2023-24, kicking off the first month of the new season by winning the Gr. 2 Foxbridge Plate on Dragon Leap and the Gr. 3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes on Crocetti. By September he headed the jockeys’ premiership and apart from being briefly challenged by defending champion Michael McNab, he maintained that position until season’s end.
Crocetti, bred and raced by Byerley Park principal Daniel Nakhle and trained there by Danny Walker and Arron Tata, swept all before him into summer with Kennedy in the saddle. His six-win sequence included the Gr. 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas, Gr. 2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial and Gr. 3 Almanzor Trophy.
“Every big win is a thrill, but if I was to identify one horse from the past season it would have to be Crocetti,” Kennedy said when RaceForm caught up with him this week. “Daniel has been a massive supporter from the day we arrived in New Zealand, and it worked out beautifully to win six on the bounce for him on Crocetti.
“Daniel got us here, he’s backed me the whole way. It really was poetic, you couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
When this article went to press before the season-ending Tauranga race meeting on Wednesday, Kennedy’s premiership-winning tally stood at 139 wins. He also led his rivals on the score of total stake-earnings – just a few thousand dollars short of $6 million – and 17 Group and Listed races.
As competitive as he obviously is, there’s also a strong element of sportsmanship in Kennedy’s makeup, something that comes to the fore in his recognition of closest rival Michael McNab’s valiant attempt at a premiership hat-trick.
Beginning the hard winter slog, Kennedy had a lead of almost 20 wins over the chasing pack and the TAB were giving serious consideration to an early payout to punters who had backed the South African on the jockeys’ premiership.
But then his winning run dried up and McNab began to claw his way back, going head-to-head and then hitting the lead, only to suffer a serious back injury in a trial fall and eventually having to abandon the race.
“It was a cruel blow for Nabba to have to pull the pin like that, I really felt for him.” Kennedy said with genuine sympathy. “I had falls at Te Rapa and Riccarton but both times I walked away – that’s the way the game goes and I was lucky.”
Kennedy is keeping an open mind on what the new season might hold for him in respect of another premiership chase.
“When I got to a certain point and I knew I was a chance, I took a serious shot at it. That meant a lot of travelling regularly down south – you can’t win a premiership without riding at as many meetings as possible – and I pulled it off.
“I had also committed to riding right to the end of the season as well as next week at Riccarton, but I will be having a couple of easy weeks further into August and coming back freshened up for Foxbridge Plate day.
“Beyond that I’m planning to concentrate on feature racing, but if I get to April or May and I’m looking a chance, I’ll probably give it another shot. That’s for later though, at 44 I’m not getting any younger, so we’ll see how it comes together.
“I’ve just taken on Leith Innes as my agent, so it’s going to be good working with someone who has been a very successful jockey himself and has an excellent grasp on the form.”
The other exciting development in the Kennedy household is the opportunity that has landed at wife Barbara’s feet in taking over the stable established at Byerley Park by recently retired trainers Peter and Dawn Williams.
Within weeks of being licensed, at Ruakaka on June 29 Barbara saddled up her first New Zealand winner, the Garry and Mary Chittick-owned Subtle Power, in another perfect script with her husband in the saddle. That took her career tally to 60, adding to the 59 winners she trained in South Africa.
“You could hardly ask for a better opportunity than to take over Peter and Dawn’s stable,” says Warren. “After being there to settle the family into a new home and way of life and allow me to concentrate on my career, it’s now time for Barb to take up the reins for herself with my full support.
“She’s loving being hands-on with the horses again and she deserves the chance to concentrate on what’s a shaping as a nice team of horses.
“I’ll be there to ride work for her as much as I can along with my commitments to Cambridge Stud and the team they have in work with Lance (Noble). It’s time to pay everyone back who has helped me get established.”