After being gelded during his lay-off between the spring of 2022 and autumn of 2023, the James Cummings-trained Kallos has returned a different horse taking out the Listed Bob Hoysted Handicap taking his record to two-from-two as a gelding.
The Godolphin yard have been rewarded for making the tough decision to give this son of Medaglia D'oro the ultimate gear change, with him returning to the racetrack with two very nice wins at the Flemington 1000m.
As usual, Kallos jumped well from the barriers and put himself into a nice position in behind the leaders and when Ben Melham pressed the button and let him rip, he let down with that blistering turn of foot and proved too strong for the fast finishing The Bopper on his inside.
Jumping as the second favourite with online bookmakers at $4.20, Kallos showed his class and recorded a nice victory albeit only by a head on the line over The Bopper and A Very Fine Red, who filled the placings.
2023 Bob Hoysted Handicap Replay – Kallos
After Kallos' win in the Bob Hoysted Handicap, Godolphin's Victorian foreman Sean Keogh spoke post-race about another win for the “blue army”.
“Coming back as a gelding and putting one away justifies the decision to geld him and it's just nice that he could put a Black Type race away again today,” Keogh said.
“Up in weight, grade as well, so definitely improved.
“The big racing is in Sydney and then you've got the Queensland Carnival.
“Adelaide, we're not far from there when he's in Melbourne, so it's definitely an option but it's great to see the horse racing so well.”
Ben Melham brought up his first winner on Australian Cup Day and he spoke post-race about the win and how he has taken his partners, Jamie Kah, usual ride.
“It was a good performance, typical of the stable, they did a good job to win with him first up, he's improved again here today, he went up a little bit in weight and improved fitness-wise and will obviously improve into his campaign,” Melham said.
“It's good to get a win on him, I spoke to Jamie this morning and she wasn't too happy I was riding her horse, but she said if I win on him we're going halves, so we're keeping it in the family at least.”