Russell Henderson's king lines up

By Jordan Gerrans

It had been a long time between drinks for Townsville trainer Russell Henderson and his galloper Line Of Kings and the duo were finally able to have a sip on Sunday afternoon at Bowen. 

The 60-year-old Henderson has returned to the industry over the last couple of years after taking almost a decade away from training. 

He has been poking along with a couple of gallopers - Line Of Kings and Vagabond Prince. 

In his 15^th start since joining the re-established Henderson barn, Line Of Kings handed the returning conditioner a well-deserved victory over 1200 metres in Benchmark 50 Handicap grade.

Henderson was chuffed to nab his first victory since The Rustla scored at Oak Park back in July of 2014.

“I was pretty confident he would go well after his run in Townsville two weeks before in a Class 3 Plate,” the trainer said.

“He sat up on the speed there against better horses and just faded on his fitness a little bit, I thought.

“He ran as good as I thought he could. We tipped him out for a long time after a run at Ewan last year and he has come back good.

“We are happy he won.”

Not long after The Rustla’s victory all those years ago, Henderson relocated south from North Queensland and stepped away from training. 

He returned to the caper in late 2023 and has been searching for a victory since. 

Experienced NQ hoop Graham Kliese rides Line Of Kings in the majority of his trackwork following an injury to fellow top local hoop Frank Edwards. 

Henderson believes having the knowledge of jockeys such as Edwards and Kliese in his corner has been valuable.

“It helps when you have someone of his experience,” Henderson  said of Kliese.

“It was good to see the horse win, he deserves it – he rarely runs a bad race for us.

“Graham has him worked out now after we changed some gear up on him.

“We are rolling along now.”

From the inside alley, Kliese hugged the fence in the leading position throughout before scoring by a touch over a line. 

Kliese collected a winning double on Sunday. 

Henderson owns the majority share of Line Of Kings alongside fellow North Queenslander Amy King.

“She has never won a race before Sunday after having a few racehorses in her time,” he said.

“It was good for her.

“I am enjoying being back training and I think being up early in the morning helps me as a person.”

Henderson has a few options with the seven-year-old chestnut gelding going forward, tossing up if he will target a race at Bowen again or potentially back him up at Home Hill this Saturday. 

Regardless, he reckons the galloper is keen for more ground and wants to get him up over 1400 metres in the near future.

The immature Vagabond Prince has not been at the races since late 2023 with Henderson noting the five-year-old will soon have a trial as he ramps up his comeback.