Kris Hansen doesn't need any alibis

By Jordan Gerrans

Kris Hansen trains out of Rockhampton in Central Queensland but his horses arguably feel most at home on the surface of Cluden Park in Townsville. 

Kris is the son of long-time CQ conditioner Kevin Hansen and has followed in his father’s footsteps into the training ranks over the last few years. 

He has picked up a number of new owners in recent times following the retirement of trainer Graeme Green as well as taking on a few of his father’s horses. 

The Rockhampton horseman is starting to gain momentum in his own training career and has nabbed two of his biggest victories since he has taken out of his own training ticket at Cluden Park in the last month.

He claimed the feature $105,000 QTIS Northern Jewel in the middle of May before grabbing the time-honoured QTIS 2YO Classic, which carries a purse of $100,000, on Saturday afternoon.

The 47-year-old Hansen was yet to win a race with a prizemoney offering of more than $25,000 before Astra Star landed the chocolates in the QTIS Northern Jewel.

It was emerging filly Sheza Alibi who did the job on Saturday, putting in a striking performance to land the annual feature by more than a length.

“She has got a lot of ability and she is going to be a really nice horse in time,” Hansen said of Sheza Alibi.

“She will be a really nice miler next time in. Everything is going really good with her and there is still lots of improvement in her.

“She will improve a hell of lot from that run and I am really happy with her.

“We have been setting her up for this race for a while and as she is one of the better two-year-olds up here, I was confident going into the race.”

Hansen prepares around a dozen gallopers and has nine career victories to his name after taking out his own licence in late 2022. 

Sheza Alibi was yet to finish outside of the top two placings in her first two career starts before heading north to Cluden Park on Saturday.

She started as a $4.80 shot in the market but with the locally prepared Satisfied Mugs rated a $1.65 chance after being crunched in the market late, there was every expectation that Sheza Alibi would need to settle for a minor placing.

The race appeared to be going to script with just under 400 metres to travel as Satisfied Mugs was leading by a healthy margin and Sheza Alibi appeared to be stuck on the fence behind a wall of horses.

But, experienced Tasha Chambers presented the ‘Rocky’ filly at the perfect time and found a nice gap and Sheza Alibi burst past the leading favourite to score in a dominant performance.

Hansen was full of praise for the ride Chambers produced on his up-and-coming filly.

“It was a 10 out of 10 ride from her,” Hansen said.

“I was really happy with how she rode the horse.

“She did not have to do much on her once she got clear air.”

Like Hansen, Chambers also has had great success at Cluden Park in recent times after winning the Pallarenda Stakes with Age Of Aquarius in late 2023.

“I know how bold and brave she is because at trackwork, for a two-year-old, she won’t shy at other horses. When they’ve got that sort of confidence, I knew she’d take those tight runs and I knew we’d be going up on the inside,” Chambers said about Sheza Alibi.

“When you’re on a good horse you can take those small gaps.

“Once she took the run, she really lengthened. I saw Ashley Butler (riding Satisfied Mugs) in front and she was just gaining speed and zipped straight past him.”

With a couple of promising juveniles in his barn, Hansen has plenty of options with Sheza Alibi and Astra Star.

Astra Star will follow the typical Guineas path through the upcoming Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival with likely stops in several cities.

He has a few decisions to make with Sheza Alibi and thinks she wouldn’t look out of place racing in the city soon.

“On that, you would think she would be competitive,” he said.

“From 1200 metres to a mile, she can relax and she has a real turn of foot.

“There is a hell of a lot of room for improvement in her.”

Sheza Alibi is raced by Central Queensland grazier Fred Noffke who has a number of horses with the Hansen team.

A former jockey, Hansen started his apprenticeship under his father decades ago when the family was based at Ipswich.

Like many young apprentices’, he battled with his weight when he first started riding and would only last around nine months in the saddle.

After stepping away from riding, Hansen completed an extensive “apprenticeship” in stables around the world, gaining knowledge before he went out on his own.

He spent more than a decade at the Gold Coast with the Guy family and Gillian Heinrich, worked for John Hawkes, as well as heading over to ride in Singapore for a period of time.