Kerchak rises above

By Glenn Davis

Promising stayer Kerchak had won two of his first three starts for Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke two years ago, before he was put on the market soon after winning a Class One at Doomben in January of 2022.

In stepped Gold Coast trainer Ben Ahrens after Kerchak was sold for a paltry $3000 at an online auction and the rest is history.

“I had an owner, Gavin Darke, who rang me as he wanted to buy him,” Ahrens said.

“He had a vet go over him and he had his legs scanned and he thought he was worth the risk.

“Gavin rolled the dice and bought him and here we are now.”

Ahrens has a gifted one-on-one touch with injury-prone horses and has carefully managed Kerchak to the point where he has won seven times since taking him on.

Ahrens, a former physiotherapist, has been training for more than two decades after first hitting the headlines with his former star, Spechenka, who won the Group 3 Summer Cup at Randwick in 2010.

Spechenka finished his career with 12 wins and seven placings from 62 starts and more than $527,000 in prize money.

Among Spechenka's wins were the Listed Caloundra Cup in 2011 and Group 3 Queen's Cup in 2012.

Ahrens believes Kerchak and Spechenka are like chalk and cheese.

“They are a different type of horse,” Ahrens said.

“Spechenka won over 2400m and the further he went the more he liked it.

“Kerchak has a good turn of foot and is a lot more brilliant than Spechenka and 2400m will pull him up.

“Kerchak had a couple of years off with a tendon injury before I got him but he obviously had a lot of ability as he came to us with two wins from his first three starts.

“A lot of horses with tendon injuries like he had don’t come back but Kerchak has so far.”

Ahrens is a great believer in personal care with horses and is aware not to overtax them if they have a history of tendon problems.

“I don’t work him much and his legs are iced every day after trackwork,” Ahrens said.

“I also have him massaged all over so he doesn’t favour one leg over the other as that’s what a lot of horses with tendon injuries tend to do.

“A chiropractor also comes in to work on him every two weeks and he does a lot of swimming instead of working on the track.”

Kerchak was bred by Magic Millions owner Gerry Harvey and was originally knocked down for $25,000 at the Magic Millions yearling sales.

“He went through the Magic Millions sales but he’s not eligible for it as he wasn’t paid up at the time,” Ahrens said.

Kerchak looked highly promising from day one when the son of Tarzino was unlucky not to win his first three starts under Vandyke.

He was edged out in a photo on debut in a 1200m maiden on a waterlogged Sunshine Coast track three years ago then broke his maiden status at Ipswich before being taken to the city winning a 1650m Class One at Doomben in January, 2022.

He later injured a tendon and never raced for two years until Ahrens put him in a 1200m Class Three at the Gold Coast in March 2024.

“He won a jump out and had trialled well at the Gold Coast before he had his first start for us,” Ahrens said.

“I expected him to run well first-up, but it was only an ordinary effort and he was run off his feet.

“I was terrified stepping him up from 1200m to 1540m second up after a two-year break but he ran well to finish fifth and was only beaten one length at his next start.”

The moment of truth for Ahrens and connections came on the synthetic track at the Gold Coast when Kerchak won in a tight finish over the same distance in early April last year.

“He won well after he was caught wide and had to drop back before circling the field,” Ahrens said.

“We knew from then on that he was back so we took him to Eagle Farm for next start but he had a few blood issues at the time.

“The vets said it wasn’t serious enough not to run him, but he only ran on fairly that day.”

Kerchak recovered quickly from the blood disorder and won his next three starts at Beaudesert and twice on the Gold Coast synthetic track before earning a spell.

“He only had four weeks in the paddock during his break and he came back to finish second at the Gold Coast, which was a lot better run than he produced in his first campaign after a two-year break,” Ahrens said.

Two more runs - a sixth at Toowoomba and a second at Eagle Farm - saw Ahrens start to thumb through the racing calendar looking for a suitable target in the spring.

The Listed Mooloolaba Cup at the Sunshine Coast last November was quickly spotted by Ahrens.

“We didn’t start thinking of the Mooloolaba Cup until after his third up run when he ran second over 1600m at Eagle Farm,” Ahrens said.

“He was a little unlucky at Eagle Farm that day as he was held up for a run.”

It’s history that Kerchak relished the heavy conditions to win the Mooloolaba Cup, which prompted Ahrens to consider raising the bar higher during the summer.

Kerchak then completed a hat-trick of wins in a dominant display for his ninth career win at his next start in a 2000m Open at Doomben on November 30.

Such was the ease of his victory, Ahrens was convinced that Kerchak was worthy of a trip to Sydney.

“His win was very good at Doomben on the heavy track but it tested him a little,” Ahrens said.

Either way, Ahrens may have a worthy Queensland Racing Carnival contender in his stable.