2 days ago
Kembla preview: David Payne training son of his Victoria Derby winner Ace High for cousin of former Primer Minister Kevin Rudd
David Payne heads back to Kembla on Saturday with a blue-blooded gelding whose epic pedigree is second only to that of his owner./breeder.
The horse is Pour Benn.
His breeder and owner is Damien Rudd.
'He's your Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's cousin,'' the famous expat South African horseman revealed.
'He phoned me and asked me to train the horse so I said yes and he sent it from New Zealand.'
It is easy to see why Rudd chose Payne aside from his well over 100 Group wins on his peerless CV.
Pour Benn is a son of Ace High whom Payne guided throughout his illustrious career, highlighted by his thoroughly emphatic win the 2017 VRC Victoria Derby.
Pour Benn made his racetrack debut on the same day as he turned four, finishing an honourable fourth in a 1600m Super Maiden on a Heavy 9 at Kembla on August 1.
'It wasn't a bad run first-up,'' Payne said.
'He came up along the inside which may have been the worst part of the going but that would have brought him on.
'He is a big rangy horse and he will want further eventually.
'He was quite green so I have put the blinkers on him.
'He will be competitive.'
The addition of blinkers might be the trigger to coax a first, and early, career win out of Pour Benn, that is, if he takes after father in the gear department.
'Ace High was definitely a better horse with the blinkers on,'' Payne said.
That said, Pour Benn already has one up on his dear old dad given that he seemed to get through the sloppy track whereas his sire was nothing short of a duffer.
'Ace High was a big, heavy horse and he hated heavy tracks, hated them,'' Payne said.
'But this bloke is out of an O'Reilly mare so maybe that will help him.'
Pour Benn was a late foal by any measure.
Born on December 1 in the 2021 season, Pour Benn saw first light at the famous and historic Rich Hill Stud at Matamata in New Zealand.
Horses bred, reared or sold by Rich Hill include the 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Price Of Penzance, 10-times Group 1 winner King Mufhasa, New Zealand classic winner and now established Newhaven Park resident sire Xtravagant, Myer Classic winner I Am A Star as well as the Derby winners Zarita and Leica Guv.
Pour Benn's third-dam is the Best Western daughter, Cinerama, whose mating to Success Express by Peter and Wendy Moran delivered them their eight-times stakes winner Staging who would go onto the foal three individual Group 1 performers in the Moran silks namely Duporth, Excites and Tickets.
Meanwhile, Payne's Rosehill runner on Saturday, State Of America, is an apt one given Pour Benn's owners family ties with the current Ambassador to the US.
A six-year-old son of the US Triple Crown winner, State Of America, has won close to $500,000 for connections with seven wins and importantly, three placings from his five first-up runs given he resumes on Saturday.
'He trialled very well,'' Payne said.
'He's only got 52 on his back so that will help him. And there's a lot of stayers in the race so we're all in the same boat I would think.
'He is really well in himself so I expect a nice race from him.'
