Kennedy reaping the rewards

The late-blooming Warren Kennedy currently sits on top of the jockeys’ log with 43 winners and fortunately escaped without serious injury after Cattitude sadly broke down in Race 7 at Turffontein last Saturday.

“I have a bit of whiplash in my neck and am bruised, but it’s all superficial. I will be back soon,” was his comment last Monday morning, before heading off for a spot of acupuncture.

“I am chasing the championship this season and aim to ride 20 winners a month and 240 in the season so am ahead of schedule at the moment. But it’s early days.”

2018/19 saw him breakthrough to the big time, with a bumper 139 tally – the first time he had reached three figures in a season.

And to crown it all he also recorded a maiden Grade 1 win when exciting filly Gabor won the Thekwini Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville on the final Saturday of the campaign. In addition he recorded no less than four Grade 2 wins.

“My previous best had been 90-something winners in 2009, but since linking up with Gavin van Zyl a few years ago the opportunities have opened up for me.

“I was glad to get my first Grade 1 out of the way. Gabor is a fantastic filly and still progressing and I’m excited to see how she does this season.

“I’m doing a lot of travelling and have enjoyed a fair amount of success in Gauteng, where I’ve enjoyed good support from Paul Peter, Mike de Kock and St John Gray.”

The Paul Peter link has been particularly fruitful. This Turffontein-based conditioner is currently top of the training standings himself and the duo have enjoyed no less than 15 victories in tandem since 1 August.

“The stable is strong and firing and can do no wrong at the moment. I’m lucky enough to be first choice for the season,” commented a grateful Kennedy.

This born-and-bred Durbanite belongs to a racing family, as father Terrance was also a jockey, before weight constraints curtailed his career in the saddle.

Thankfully being naturally light, Warren has never had such issues and instead had the opposite problem.

“When I entered the academy at 14 I was tiny and 26kg. After a couple of years they wanted me to have cortisone injections to boost my weight, but I refused, as I wasn’t sure of the longer term implications. When I came out of my time I had reached 44kg.”

“Nicky Roebuck, Morne Winnaar and the late Gift Funeka were in my year, but only Morne is still riding of those.

“I was always planning to become a jockey, but also studied law by correspondence for a couple of years in case things didn’t work out. I didn’t finish as the workload became too much.

“The final three years of my apprenticeship were spent in PE with the late Nic Claassen.

“He was good with youngsters and taught me a lot about stable management and horsemanship, as well as a good work ethic.

Remarkably his first ever race win was in a feature, when Coded Missile won the PE Lady’s Pendant on 15 May 1998, a day he remembers with pride.

“His usual jockey fell ill and got off his rides, so Mr Claassen put me on Coded Missile. It was a level weight feature, so there was no apprentice allowance and I won without any claim and beat Mark Khan in the finish.”

After coming out of his time, he headed back to KZN and has been a consistent performer ever since, as a career win tally of over 1000 wins would suggest.

But he has had his fair share of injuries along the way, with a particularly serious fall in PE in 2008 being a low-light.

“A horse slipped in front of me and my horse fell over it, followed by the rest of the field running over me. I had a crushed eye socket and jaw among other things. It took three surgeries of seven hours or more and they had to cut me from ear to ear and rebuild my face.

“The healing process took four months, but luckily it didn’t affect my confidence or nerves in any way and I was happy to get straight back into competition.”

On a personal level Warren tied the knot with Barbara Badenhorst in March this year. Barbara is the sister of former jockey Vicky Lerena, who is married to Gavin.

And their happiness was complete when daughter Jamie arrived on 30 May.

“It’s amazing how all the pieces of my life, both personal and professional have fallen into place recently.

“Having a child really puts everything into proper focus and perspective and when my daughter smiles at me all my petty problems disappear,” is how he sums it up.

His easy going demeanour masks an inner steeliness which has seen him through the many ups and downs of his two decades in the saddle.

“I don’t forget the hard times, where I came from and what got me there,” he says with feeling.

And now that his time to shine has come, you can be sure Warren Kennedy will grab the opportunity with both hands.

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