Written by Paul Vettise
Trainer Michael Nolan has enjoyed the support of the Reeves family for more than two decades and they’ve celebrated plenty of successes along the way, most notably a Group 1 victory in the Doomben 10,000.
That came courtesy of Laurie’s Lottery (Sir Laurence {NZ}) in 1999 and fast forward to current times and the Queensland-based association is still burning brightly and the promise of further top-shelf success with the Nolan-prepared Kisukano (Bel Esprit).
Bred by Peter Reeves and raced by him with sons Robert and David and friends, Kisukano has won four of her five 2-year-old starts this season with her only defeat at Eagle Farm where she finished runner-up to Rothfire (Rothesay).
She then trotted up at Doomben before turning the tables on Rothfire, subsequent winner of the G1 JJ Atkins S., with a 2l triumph in the $500,000 QTIS Jewel at the Gold Coast, after which she was spelled having already banked more than $450,000.
Back in style
Kisukano returned to business at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday and made light of her 60.5kg to stroll home under regular rider Mark Du Plessis by 2.75l, giving the runner-up and third placegetter 5kg and 7.5kg respectively.
Post-race, Nolan announced plans to ease up on Kisukano and head to Sydney next month where there was an array of options against her own sex.
Michael Nolan (left) when Laurie’s Lottery won the Inglis Classic at Randwick
Kisukano’s fifth dam Belle J’Ami (Topiary) was bought by the Reeves family at a Sydney sale in the 1970s to start a breeding venture that has proved hugely successful.
The family’s roll of honour includes stakes-winner Dynamic Love (Brave Warrior), Key Bar Nights (Anabaa {USA}), Barbed (Canny Lad), Top Knight (Zoustar), Over Exposure (Rothesay) and Princess Margaret (Spectrum {Ire}).
Princess Margaret won the Listed Silk Stocking and is a half-sister to Kiss For Gran (Show A Heart), ironically a non-winner but she has more than made up for that as the dam of Kisukano.
Nolan trained Kiss For Gran and had much more luck with her dam Grouse Lane (Sea Road), who won nine races and was stakes placed in the Reeves colours.
