Written by Richard Edmunds
With a homebred daughter of a mare who cost just $15,000, Jeff and Janine Allis’ Epona Park struck black-type gold in Saturday’s Listed Magic Millions Debutant S. at Caulfield.
Kiki Express (Sepoy) came out on top in a 2-year-old field full of first-starters, finishing strongly out of midfield and edging out the favourite Brereton (Zoustar) in a head-bobbing battle to the wire.
“I wasn’t sure if we’d won,” jockey Damian Lane admitted. “If I had put my life on it, I would have said I’d got beaten, but she got the bob at the right time. She’s a tough filly. She’s really progressed well throughout this preparation.
“I just want to say thank you to Jeff Allis and the partners in this horse. It’s great to get a result like this for them early in the carnival.”
Kiki Express was bred by Jeff Allis and is raced by Epona Park in partnership with the Royal Malvern Racing Club and The Train Racing, which are both also managed by Allis family members.
Saturday’s Debutant S. winner became the fourth winner from six foals to race out of Maloose, a daughter of Redoute’s Choice who herself won four races including the Listed Schweppervescence S. in South Australia.
Epona Park and Renate Du Plessis purchased Maloose for just $15,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling and Bloodstock Sale in 2018. The mare produced a filly by Cable Bay (Ire) later that year, then Allis sent her to Sepoy, with Kiki Express the resulting foal.
A bright future
Kiki Express has made a big impression on trainers Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra, who notably used the Debutant S. as a career starting point for their subsequent Golden Slipper S. winner Crystal Lily (Stratum) back in 2009.
While it remains to be seen whether Kiki Express is the type of filly to follow that path, Ellerton believes she also has a bright future ahead of her.
“I thought she just missed the bob there, but it was great to get it in,” he said. “She’s just been so professional the whole way through.
“She’s (Kiki Express) just been so professional the whole way through." - Matthew Ellerton
“We’d planned to go to Flemington with her and probably just ran out of time – she trialled down the straight there and was just a bit big in condition. So we bided our time and came here today instead.
“Good on Jeff Allis and his partners – it’s very exciting. We’re very grateful to all the crew back home. She’s been a bit difficult, but she’s come around really well now.
“She could well have done her job now (for this preparation). She’s still got to come up in the wither a fair bit. She’s not a big girl, but she’s just been so professional the whole way through and is just very natural.”
