Brilliant mare I Am Me could provide Dynamic Syndications with their milestone 800th race winner when she contests the ATC Queen's Jubilee Handicap (1200m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
I Am Me, trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, has scored easily in both starts this campaign and at $1.95 is the shortest favourite on the Randwick program.
Champion jockey James McDonald is the new rider for the talented I Am Me who will earn her chance at stakes level if she can improve her already impressive race record to six wins from 11 starts.
I Am Me is the 280th individual winner the father and son team of Dean and Adam Watt have syndicated under their Dynamic banner since it came into operation in 2005.
Over the last 17 years, the Dynamic colours have been carried to success in 799 races, averaging a winner per week for 13 consecutive seasons.
"The harder you work the luckier you get in this game and we are batting at about 86 per cent winners to runners now,'' Dean Watt said.
"We micromanage the 70 horses we have on our books and work very closely with our trainers.
"Adam maps out the programs and books the jockeys but our trainers always have the final call. We all work as a team.
"We have had 29 winners so far this season with some nice prospects coming through like I Am Me. It would be nice if we get to 800 wins with this mare.''
Watt purchased I Am Me for $210,000 at the 2020 Melbourne Premier Sale then syndicated her to an ownership group that included breeder Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.
"When we purchased I Am Me as a yearling, we said to the Sheikh's representatives he had bred a very nice horse and would he like to stay in her,'' Watt said.
"They took a share in the filly and it's the first time anywhere in the world the Sheikh has raced a horse in partnership with a syndication company.''
I Am Me, a daughter of champion sire I Am Invincible, has earned hot favouritism for Saturday's Randwick sprint after scorching turf to win successive Rosehill 1100m races this campaign.
At her most recent win, I Am Me led throughout to dominate her rivals in a Benchmark 88 race, scoring by two lengths easing down but still breaking 33sec for her final 600m sectional.
"I will quote Tommy Berry who rode I Am Me last start, ‘she is scary','' Watt said.
"When she won so easily first-up in a Benchmark 78, I thought we know she can do that but I questioned the strength of the race. Then, she took on a much deeper field (Benchmark 88) last start and treated them with contempt.''
Watt felt the "handicapper was hard" on I Am Me who stays in the same grade but has gone up eight handicap points and carries 58kg (up 4kg from last start).
I Am Me is also on trial at 1200m and is conceding main rival and $3.70 second favourite Dehorned Unicorn 6.5kg in weight.
"There is some query about her going to 1200m and I understand that because if you look at form, she failed once when she went to this distance previously but there were excuses for her that day,'' Watt said.
"I've got no doubt she will run 1400m in time.''
Watt revealed some consideration was given to starting I Am Me in the Listed Kensington Stakes at Flemington on Saturday but Randwick was always the preferred option.
"We threw a nomination in for Melbourne for the 1000m race but it's the wrong set-up,'' he said.
"The Randwick race is a more suitable assignment for the mare.''
Watt said Maher and Eustace are readying I Am Me for the Listed $160,000 Canterbury Sprint (1200m) at Canterbury on New Year's Day.
If I Am Me can continue in her rich vein of form, then loftier ambitions including Group 1 sprints over 1100m like the Oakleigh Plate and The Galaxy suddenly emerge as realistic targets.
The Dynamic team could bring up their 800th winner on Friday with Montagliari in a Goulburn Maiden (1200m) or at the Canterbury night meeting with African Daisy, another McDonald mount, contesting the Too Darn Hot Yearlings Handicap (1550m).
Importantly, with the likes of I Am Me and unbeaten three-year-old filly Hi Dubai, the Dynamic brand is getting plenty of exposure ahead of the yearling sales which start with the Magic Million on the Gold Coast next month.
But Watt conceded the nation's economic pressures with rising inflation and interest rates make their job to purchase and syndicate yearlings more difficult although he remains optimistic due to the robust nature of the racing industry.
"There are concerns because times are tough for everyone,'' Watt said.
"Look at the building sector, when that coughs the rest of the economy gets pneumonia.
"The racing industry is so strong at the moment with all the prizemoney increases although I'd like to see more money at grassroots level, particularly maiden races, to help reinvestment from owners.
"But some horses are like ‘ATM machines' because if you get a sound horse and place it right, there is some serious money on offer."
Story by Ray Thomas - Daily Telegraph