Jason Laking, the winner of more than 300 races in New Zealand, will climb aboard My Reason and Kennedy is pleased to provide the talented jockey with his first race-day ride for more than three years.
Laking hung up his riding boots in February 2011 due to weight issues, and took up work at a tyre shop in Ashburton.
However, the 31-year-old has been riding regular trackwork and Kennedy thought he would throw out a line and see if he got a bite. Kennedy had originally offered the ride to his trackwork rider, Anna Swainson, but she already had one booked.
''I rung Jason and he was happy enough to have a go,'' Kennedy said.
''You don't get many group 1-[winning] amateurs, do you?
Laking's group 1 win came on board The Jewel in the 2002 edition of the New Zealand One Thousand Guineas at Riccarton.
If Laking was successful aboard My Reason, it would be his first winning ride since guiding Outrageous Fortune to a win at Gore in December 2010.
My Reason has not raced since May 11, when he finished ninth behind Ima Geegee at Ascot Park.
''He hasn't had a run for a while, so he'll take a bit of improvement out of the run,'' Kennedy said.
''I just couldn't get a rating 65 1400m for him, so we've just given him a bit of work, and he should be fit enough.
''It's not an overly strong field, so with a good ride he should be hard to beat.''
Kennedy has two gallopers entered in the rating 65 1200m but is leaning towards Sparks Fly turning around her Oamaru form from June 8 where she was a distant last.
''She was very disappointing last start,'' he said.
''With her work, we thought she could win at Oamaru but Chris said she never went an inch on the track.
The Wingatui track was rated as a heavy 10 yesterday, but Kennedy would not be surprised if it was rated close to slow by race time today.
''If she doesn't cop it, I'll just give her a little spell because the tracks aren't going to improve over the next couple of months.''
Sparks Fly will carry only 53.kg with Courtney Barnes' 1kg claim, compared with her stablemate Nutinear, who shares the top weight with 59kg.
Kennedy said Nutinear needed to learn how to settle despite winning at Oamaru on June 8.
''It was a very good effort because he did a few things wrong. Hopefully, he does everything better tomorrow and he'll be a good competitive chance.''
Mary Magdalene (race 2) is Kennedy's other runner, who ran fifth on debut at Oamaru earlier this month.
''The track was a bit testing for her, but it will be a lot better tomorrow,'' he said.
''Greenness has cost her a bit of ground too, so she should be a lot better tomorrow.''
Chapel Star, a $41 chance for the group 3 Winter Cup at Riccarton in August, will head to Ashburton next week for an open 1400m and the Oamaru Cup on July 20 in preparation for the 1600m feature, Kennedy said.
