News

Mark Kavanagh maturing into vintage drop

27th Oct 2010

Herald Sun - Adrian Dunn - Wednesday, 27 October 2010

AD: What makes "Kav" tick?

MK: Hmmm. That's a hard one ... I dunno ... I dunno.

Is "Kav" a different person now than when he was a jumps jockey?

He doesn't have to diet any more, he doesn't have to work at a pub any more and he's a little more comfortable, but he's still got the same work ethic. A little more mature and little more wise.

About five years ago you came here with fewer than a handful of horses and a dream.

Three-and-a-half years ago and one horse. I came to Flemington on March 31, 2007, and we had one box at Danny O'Brien's and we were still waiting approval for 26 boxes.

As it turns out, March 31, 2007 is a significant day for you.

I had one horse here, one in Adelaide and two were in Sydney. Four horses won on the same day in three states. That was the opening.

It's been a meteoric rise to become one of the most respected trainers in the country with a barn full of talented horses.

No. I dreamed of playing at the top. We had success in a Blue Diamond and we had Divine Madonna win an Emirates. And that's where I wanted to be, I wanted to be a carnival trainer. The first year was tough. I was living four days in an apartment here and three days in Adelaide.

I was just about to put everything on the truck and move the office over and EI (equine influenza) set in. Isobel (his wife) had to stay in Adelaide until February, when EI was over.

How important is it that all your family is involved?

It's a wonderful asset, but it's a rotten conversation when we have dinner. We all enjoy our racing and that's why we may be so successful. It's pretty cool having them all there.

Why do you think you've had such phenomenal success?

Winning trainers attract good horses. I didn't wake up and it just happened. If you look at my account with William Inglis over the past 15 years there's a spike in my purchases. When I moved to Adelaide from Mt Gambier I said to my owners, 'We need to buy horses that don't fluke winning in Adelaide'.

It was the same when I came to Melbourne. Along the way, a couple of lucky people have come on board and I've got Shocking and "Whobe". It's all to do with being able to buy the right horse and knowing what to do when you get it.

But, what is it about "Kav" that makes people want to give you a horse?

I'm hungry for success. I like going to the races and winning races, big races.

Isn't that the same with every trainer?

Well, yes, but my situation of being around the bush and being a leading trainer in Mt Gambier and Adelaide, I want to win the big races and I focus on them. Sometimes we have to come down a bit, but most are immediately aimed that way.

It seems that you have a personality that draws people to you. Is your personality of the past 3 1/2 years the same as over the past 25 years?

I was pretty reserved and pretty quiet, but occasionally a little outspoken when I was riding. That comes with the territory of jumps jockeys. When I first started training I was pretty brash and I went from being the local jumping jockey to the leading trainer within one year. I put a lot of people offside, upset them.

Why was that?

There's a lot of professional jealousy in racing. There's a lot of people who want to help you start and they'll push you up the ladder, but they are the same blokes who have got their mates waiting at the top to tread on your fingers. It's different.

I've always attacked training from day one. I've brought properties and done it properly. I've always wanted everything perfect. I want our place to look like a Mercedes showroom. We've got good horses so it has to be spotless, it has to be the best. It's got to be the cleanest, it's got to be magnificent.

You celebrate wins very demonstrably. I stood behind you when Maldivian won the Cox Plate and I don't think I've ever seen so much raw excitement.

I don't know how you'd react if you trained a Cox Plate winner, but it's pretty cool. I do get pretty excited because I'm so thankful to be there. It was only 12 years ago that I'd be driving home from Horsham on Cox Plate night.

You wear your heart on your sleeve.

That's me.

How often do you think about Shocking winning the Cup last year?

A fair bit. I've got it at home, I walk past it every day.

What has it done for you?

Made me pretty hungry to get this year's.

What does the Melbourne Cup mean to you?

Everything. It's what everyone wants. I'm not looking for recognition, I'm looking to win the races. I suppose I am looking for the recognition because I'm looking for people to send me more horses.

What do you want to achieve in the next 20 years?

Twelve Melbourne Cups.

For all the highs, there's also been some crushing lows. Does the Maldivian episode still haunt you?

It doesn't haunt. It wasn't good, it was upsetting (but) he came back to win a Cox Plate. That's racing. You put them in the gates and accept your fate. What happens, happens.

How gut wrenching was it to come to the stables on Australia Day this year and find horses running around?

It wasn't good. That (fallout) is still going on. Why would someone do that and how could someone do that? And how could it possibly happen on one of the leading racecourses in the world?

What did you see first?

There were 26 horses bolting up and down the asphalt.

No explanation, no resolution to the terrible episode yet?

There was an investigation by the police, but I've never a heard a thing. Now the matter is with legal firms and it's probably going to be a long and costly experience.

You mentioned how troubling it was for you that someone would be propelled to do that. Do you suspect it was someone off their face or a disgruntled former employee?

We have no idea, easy as that. We don't believe it was someone who may have worked here. There was a lot of kids walking along the back alley, kids off their face and just lost who jumped fences and were just lost.

Can you put up a compelling case why Shocking can win a second Melbourne Cup?

He has an impeccable record as a stayer at Flemington. It was an emphatic win last year. Not many horses can sit three wide, face the breeze and still win. He's not hopeless. If he was hopeless we wouldn't be having a crack. If you really want to compete at this level you can't afford to get out of bed every morning and say it's too hard.

Does it surprise you that Shocking has gone from a handicapper to weight-for-age winner in a short time?

It was surprising for him to do that in the Makybe Diva.

How much more upside to the horse?

He's a good, honest horse that keeps trying.

**Aren't you underplaying him? Isn't he an emerging superstar? **

He might have been in a couple of different springs, but maybe this year he's not. This is a vintage spring.

You said that So You Think is the best horse you've seen, a horse without a chink. How do you go forward to the Melbourne Cup with such a backdrop?

We all go to the races, present our horses as good as possible on the day and often you find horses have no luck in running or things happen. He will be going into the race with an unusual preparation. With all due respect to the champion trainer, he will never have run beyond 2000m. 1200m isn't far, but it is when you've already done 2000m. You certainly can have some optimism.

Bart Cummings has always said he never looks back, always forward. What's your philosophy?

Never look in the rear-vision mirror, don't even wash the back window of the car. Only look forward. I always make sure I wash the windscreen. I also wash the lights, because it may take a little longer than I thought.

Do you have to be an optimist to survive?

You certainly do, but you also have to be a realist. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing every day - day in, day out - and expecting it to change. When I was in Mt Gambier I was going to the bush meetings and doing OK, but if I had stayed doing that nothing would have changed.

So I went to Adelaide with gate open, but no horses walked in for me to train. And the horses that did come were not the horses that I wanted so I realised I had to row my own canoe, pave my own road. My destiny was in my hands so I went out and bought the horses that I wanted.

Do you have any regrets?

Yes, but too few to mention.

Do you take notice of precedents?

No, you have to do what you have to do. The impossible is only the name of something until someone does it.

So, what makes Mark Kavanagh tick?

I'm a thinker, I'm a planner ... what makes me tick? Winning races. I'm just a racing vegetable. I don't play any sport, I don't go to the football. I don't have any pastimes. On Saturday night I usually have a quiet dinner with my wife. Everything is racing, working and sleeping and I'm pretty good at sleeping. That's about me.