Allan Kehoe quick to make an impression with Get On The Grange

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Allan Kehoe has only had Get On The Grange for three starts and would have been excused for never having given the Summer Cup a second thought with the hand-me-down.

But after chalking up his first city winners, the former picnic rider reasons it's the right time to have a throw at the stumps with what he believes is his first group runner at Randwick on Boxing Day.

"I guess his benchmark got up in the bush [and the owners were looking for other options]," Wyong-based Kehoe said.

"I had seen him running around Taree and the like and when we got him he was a really narrow horse and we tried to freshen him up a bit and put a little bit of weight on him. He's a nice horse."

That was much evident when Get On The Grange, with Sydney's leading rider James McDonald riding, scored a minor upset at Canterbury for the trainer's breakthrough win in town.

Sam Clipperton will deputise for the holidaying McDonald in the Summer Cup.

Remarkably, on the same day as Get On The Grange's Canterbury success another of his small team was winning at Armidale.

It was the type of area Kehoe used to frequent as an amateur jockey in a family which also included his brothers Jeff and John who were also prolific in the saddle.

"I won a premiership out there," Kehoe said. "Both my brothers were jockeys and that's how it started. I've always been interested in horses and have been around them since I was 15.

"I think we're up to around 60 winners now so things are going well. We won a race at the Scone carnival the year before last and that always helps."

Maybe not as much as  a bold Summer Cup showing from Get On The Grange, listed as a roughie in early markets with Ladbrokes for the $125,000 group 3 race, which will feature the swansong of defending champion I'm Imposing.

"I've had a quick look at the field and it looks a lot tougher than what he raced against last time and he's going to be a roughie," Kehoe said.

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