Richard said it had been a very pleasing win for Kemalpasa who was almost always considered the underdog, while when asked his thoughts on Behemoth, the straight shooting younger brother served up a little backhanded compliment.
“It was terrific,’’ said Richard of Kemalpasa’s win. We thought he was going well and he’s had a bit of trouble pre-prep so it was good to get the win up. He’s had a bit of a match race with Behemoth a couple of times and always come off the worse of it so it was good to beat him.’’
Now a 13 race-winner with more than $1 million in prizemoney to his name, the 6-year-old gelding from Bianconi (USA) mare Yarra Bank has always had Richard’s faith, despite the underserved underdog tag.
“I’ve always had a fair bit of faith in him. He’s always a bit of the underdog going into a lot of the races he’s won,’’ Richard said. “He seems to be the one that they never seem to fancy or tip and, you know, that’s happened plenty of times and he’s come out and won.
“I’m not worried about what other people think. He’s won 13 races now and there’s not many horses that win three races, let alone 13.’’
“I’m not worried about what other people think. He’s (Kemalpasa) won 13 races now and there’s not many horses that win three races, let alone 13.’’ - Richard Jolly
Richard said it was good for the horse to get a win over Behemoth and good to score one against his older brother, who couldn’t be at the races due to being in quarantine for COVID.
“It is good on all parts. Look we’ve always had rivalry, never serious but it’s just a bit of ribbing rivalry,’’ Richard said. “I rang David, when I got back to the stables and had a chat with him and he was, I can assure you, happy with his horse and he just wants to get him home in one piece.
“There wasn’t too much ribbing between him and me, he was just happy with his horse and I was even happier when we beat him.’’
The beast even bigger
It is likely just an honest assessment of a horse, with a side serve of brotherly love, but Richard made a point of telling TDN AusNZ just how fat his big brother’s horse looks.
Behemoth
“I thought he ran terrific,’’ he opened with. “He looked like a whale in the mounting yard. He’s just a mammoth horse, a huge horse but I thought he ran well.
“He’s obviously just in a $100,000 race in Adelaide and he’s hardly going to be primed up for that. He’s got bigger fish to fry.
“I know David was happy. Watching it, I would have been happy with his run. He shouldn’t have lost any admirers with that. I think everyone just thought he’d win but if you see the horse, he’s just a huge horse and as they get older, they take a couple of runs to get them right.
"I think everyone just thought he’d (Behemoth) win but if you see the horse, he’s just a huge horse and as they get older, they take a couple of runs to get them right." - Richard Jolly
“I remember last year I looked at him in the mounting yard and I thought, he can’t win, he’s just too fat, and he came out and won. But this year, he looked even bigger. That’s the type of horse he is. You know he’s going to get better with racing.’’
Straight to Newmarket
Kemalpasa will skip the G1 Oakleigh Plate this year and head straight to the G1 Newmarket H. in a move to spare him from a potentially hard track that won’t do the horse any favours.
“I’m just going to back off him this week and take him easy and I’ll have a chat with Nev Morgan, his owner, but he really just goes with what I think is best for the horse,’’ Richard said.
“At this stage, I’m thinking about just waiting for the Newmarket and going straight into that rather than run in the Oakleigh Plate. He’s got that good record up the straight and I’d rather keep him fresh.
“At this stage, I’m thinking about just waiting for the Newmarket and going straight into that rather than run in the Oakleigh Plate. He’s (Kemalpasa) got that good record up the straight and I’d rather keep him fresh.’’ - Richard Jolly
A barrier trial and other things to keep Kemalpasa fit over the coming six weeks will be in order for the horse that goes really well first-up. It will also spare him some soreness in his feet, the likes of which put him out of Newmarket contention last year.
“He can jar up a bit if the tracks are a bit hard and I’m worried if he runs in the Oakleigh Plate… Caulfield can be a firm track and then you’ve got two weeks to sort of resurrect him after that to get him back,’’ Richard said.
Kemalpasa | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
“We did that last year and he ran third in the Oakleigh Plate, beaten a head, and he jarred up a bit and we had to scratch him from the Newmarket… it was nothing serious, he just has a little bit of feet trouble.’’
With prizemoney better for the Newmarket H., Richard said he wants to avoid going down the same path this year.
“We’ll have a go at that and then we’ll run him in a few of the Adelaide races. He can run back in the Irwin S. and those races,’’ he said. “He’s a 108 rater now so it’s pretty hard to place him a bit. You’ve got to run him in the better races or the weight-for-age races.’’
Competitive buying
Richard and Chantelle Jolly have built a good team of horses for their Morphettville stables and Richard said he has a number of good, young horses coming through. But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, with the going tough at Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in a trend Richard thinks is only going to continue.
Richard and Dianne Jolly with Jake Toeroek | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
“We ended up with six horses all up. We bought two, a Headwater filly, a cheap filly on the last day, and a Brave Smash colt,’’ he said. “And I ended up with four (more) horses. I train for Price Bloodstock, they bought four colts and they were really nice horses.
“I wanted to buy more. We were underbidder on about four horses on the Friday. We went to $420,000 on a Hellbent filly. Anyway, we missed every one we wanted to buy… it was just too expensive.’’
Gallery: Some of Richard and Chantelle Jolly's yearling purchases, images courtesy of Magic Millions
Richard said he made sure at the sales he put a price on the horses he was chasing, and even going way over that price at this year’s Magic Millions, he still couldn’t buy the ones he wanted. He thinks it will surely flow on at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney this weekend.
“I usually get a few up there at Inglis Classic. It’s a bit easier to buy them but it’s going to be a roll-on effect at each Sale,’’ he said. “There were plenty of people on the Gold Coast that missed out. They’re not going to be cheap at the Classic sale even. It’s getting dearer every year.’’
“There were plenty of people on the Gold Coast that missed out. They’re not going to be cheap at the Classic Sale even. It’s getting dearer every year.’’ - Richard Jolly
Richard said his stable typically bought 15 or 20 horses each year but his options were tightening this year.
“You can’t get to (Magic Millions) Adelaide and have five horses and now we can’t go to (Magic Millions) Perth, and can’t go to (Karaka) New Zealand. It makes it hard. I’m not into buying yearlings online, I want to have a look at them,’’ he said.
“Obviously, we want to buy numbers in Adelaide but you’ve got to get a few before we get there. You can’t wait for Adelaide and want to buy 10 horses there because it just doesn’t happen.’’
