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By Ray Hickson

You never know where one horse will take you and that’s why jockey Andrew Adkins is rapt to be continuing his association with emerging sprinter King’s Secret in Thursday’s Listed $200,000 Kia Canterbury Sprint (1200m).

Jockey Andrew Adkins (Pic: Bradley Photos).

Through an untimely suspension, Adkins was forced to watch the gelding make a big leap from a Benchmark 78 placing first-up to his stunning Benchmark 94 win at Randwick two Saturdays ago.

It was an easy watch for punters but not so easy for Adkins to watch another hoop, in this case Zac Lloyd, steering a horse he has a big opinion of.

So jumping back in the saddle for the horse's stakes debut is a big deal.

“It was unfortunate but that’s racing. It was good to see him win again, he gave me a really good feel first-up and I knew second-up he’d be very competitive and he was,’’ Adkins said.

“I was disappointed I wasn’t on his back but happy to see him win for Joe (Pride) and Jamie (Walter) and his owners. I’m sure he’ll gain confidence off that again.

“He’s very exciting, I don’t know how high the roof is. I’m fortunate that Joe, Jamie and the owners are sticking by me.

“I have a good relationship with the horse and I’d like to keep it going. These are the horses you need.”

King’s Secret, $3.70 with TAB on Thursday, will be having his 11th race start in the Canterbury Sprint and his trajectory at this stage of his career is almost parallel to the 2023 winner I Am Me, who Adkins rode to an easy win in the Listed feature.

It was that mare’s seventh win at her 12th start and later that year she went on to win at Group 2 and Group 3 level and was Group 1 placed twice before again placing at the top level in 2024 and contesting the TAB Everest.

The Joe Pride-trained gelding is a half-brother to dual Everest placegetter Private Eye.

No doubt it’s a stretch to predict the four-year-old will reach such heights at this stage but Adkins is confident enough he’s not done climbing yet.

“Once he put a few together and kept progressing the right way he gave me that inkling (of a nice horse),’’ he said.

“He kept taking the natural steps up and I think he’s deserving to be in the position he’s in and having a crack at stakes grade.

“It’s not a massive step but it’s a good progression for him, he’s shown what he can do stepping up through the grades. It’s all you can ask from him and he’s doing the right things.”

Adkins said what he did like about how King’s Secret demolished his opposition second-up is the way he went about it.

The gelding was able to take advantage of a soft draw to park in behind the speed and pounce and that’s what he’d like to repeat from a handy draw around Canterbury.

King's Secret wins at Randwick on December 20

“It was the way he executed early, he switched off and it’s the way he moves through his gears and sprints off the back of it,’’ he said.

“He can race forward or off the speed. He does it all the right way, that’s what I like about him.”

All the fields, form and replays for Thursday's Canterbury meeting