Kovalica lands first win for two years in Q22
The Chris Waller-trained Kovalica (5 g Ocean Park – Vitesse by Makfi) registered a first success since landing the 2023 Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) when narrowly coming out on top in Saturday’s Q22 (Gr 2, 2200m) at Eagle Farm.
Kovalica had managed six minor placings in Group company since his Derby win back in May, 2023, including a narrow runner-up finish in the 2023 Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and a last-start third in the Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), but was yet to hit the target.
Back at the scene of his biggest career success, the five-year-old gelding improved upon his fifth placing in last year’s Q22 to deny New Endeavour (New Bay) by 0.1 lengths at the line, finishing with a wet sail late in the race to get the verdict in a tight photo-finish.
Another 0.1 lengths further back was the third-placed Fawkner Park (Zoffany).
“It was a long ride back to scale, making sure that I’d got there,” winning rider Nash Rawiller said.
“What a horse he’s been. We made a call during the week – as late as Tuesday morning – to put the blinkers on today.
“You could tell in the run that he was going to do something. He’s so strong. I thought he’d keep going, even though he pulled a bit in the race.”
Meanwhile, Waller was delighted with the result and revealed Kovalica would be returning to Queensland: “It took the length of the Eagle Farm straight to get there. First win for a couple of years, but we haven’t lost faith in him and he’s been a good horse without winning.
“He’s been working to something good. He might win his next race again this time next year, if not two years. He’ll be back to Queensland.”