An air of expectation was bound to surround Kikkuli on his second appearance at the racecourse where his legendary sibling made his name.
After finishing second on his debut on the Rowley Mile last November, the half-brother to equine superhero Frankel got off the mark in promising style in Tuesday’s Alex Scott Maiden Stakes.
The Racing Post reports that Kikkuli is the final foal from Juddmonte’s Kind, who died a few days after giving birth to him three years ago. As Roger Charlton trained Kind to win six races up to Listed level, the owner-breeding operation decided that his Wiltshire stable, now operating for Charlton’s son Harry, should take charge of him.
Frankel – a champion – will his younger half brother be anything? (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
By Kingman, he made decent progress through the pack under Ryan Moore and found a little more when challenged to hold favourite Creative Story by a neck.
As well as Frankel, the unbeaten champion sire who scorched along the Rowley Mile in the 2,000 Guineas and the Dewhurst, Kind also produced Champion Stakes winner Noble Mission and black-type winners Bullet Train and Joyeuse.
“Juddmonte have applied no pressure but it means a lot to the family and a lot to racing, so it’s important,” said Harry Charlton.
“We were pleased because he’s put on so much condition compared to last year, I think he came here something like 27 kilos heavier than when he was at Newmarket [last year], there was just that little fear of are we fit, are we not fit. Ryan thought he was fit enough but he’s just done very well.
“We’d never asked him to do that at home and he wasn’t asked to do it in his race last year, so that was him showing us that he has it in there.”
Charlton said there was no particular plan with Kikkuli but that he has an idea of his distance on pedigree. He won over seven furlongs on this occasion.
“Whenever Kind was mated to Sadler’s Wells [line], you got Frankel and Joyeuse was that Green Desert side, she was six furlongs,” he told Racing TV. “I guess Kingman on top of Kind, he probably wouldn’t stay much more than a mile.”
