Dynamic Co-Trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace appear to have a
very special and
most importantly very speedy 3yo filly in their stable for
our DYNAMIC OWNERSHIP TEAM as the beautifully bred
I AM ME (I Am Invincible x Mefnooda) posted her
third win in-a-row this preparation, and took her career tally to
6 Starts: 3-1-1 and prizemoney of $128,400 when starting a
$1.80 favourite at
FLEMINGTON on ANZAC Day.
I AM ME simply "too good" as she glides past the post to pick up the $71,500 Winner's Cheque
Never getting out of trackwork tempo, she produced a
dominant 2.25 lengths eased down win in
Race 2, the $130,000 Auckland Thoroughbred Racing Inc. Trophy over 1100 metres, a Fillies and Mares Benchmark 78, where she won in a time of
1:04.18 with a last 600m of 33.68 secs and she earned a
$71,500 first prize cheque for a "legendary team" of loyal Dynamic Owners.
A few of her winning connections at Flemington to welcome I AM ME back to the Winner's Circle
Congratulations goes to our Dynamic Owners that race I AM ME: Dynamic Syndications Racing, Sheikh M B K Al Maktoum, Mrs J M Crooks, B & K Ramsey Family, Mr P J Woollett, Mr G Rassos, Mr R J Gall, Mr R G Dawkins, Mr A W Robertson, Mr A Cranes, Mr A Mitchell, Mrs N Joyce, Mr M G Joyce, Mr S B Troughton, Mr D P Lacey, Mr MJ Millner, Mr A D Vella and Mr S Finnigan.
Jockey Jamie Kah was given an armchair ride by
I AM ME throughout, and Jamie responded with the
perfect sit and steer, that was as
effortless as it was
impressive, against a handy field of 9 starters.
I AM ME defeated second favourite
FLORESCENT STAR ($6.50) by
2.25 lengths with the early leader
THE STYLIST finishing 3rd some
3.75 lengths behind
I AM ME.
Official photo finish
The only issue we have had with
I AM ME is to teach her to harness her explosive speed until it’s needed, and the hard work by the stable and their quality track riders is paying handsome dividends.
Typical of the straight track at
Flemington, it takes a
strong horse to win and
I AM ME is certainly that type of filly.
Turned out in superb condition, our filly was
odds-on throughout betting, despite having only
won a country maiden at Canberra (2.8 lengths) albeit in a feature Maiden worth $41,000, and then a
Class 1 at Ballarat (by 4.25 lengths).
Here she was taking on some Saturday class city winners and stakes performers, yet she handled the steep rise in class perfectly.
It’s hard at the best of times, for any Maiden winner to win at their next start, yet
I AM ME handled that first class jump by spanking her rivals in a
Class 1. Then here she has jumped massively again to the equivalent of Saturday class race in this
$130,000 Holiday Monday race.
From the time the gates crashed back until I AM ME ambled across the line, there was only ever going to be one winner of this event.
As the field jumped away, the silky touch of Jamie’s technique, was able to get
I AM ME to settle into a rhythm, a length and a half off the leader as the field thundered up the long Flemington straight.
The early tempo looked slow to the eye but was far from it. The field peeled off
8.30 secs for the
first 100m, then for the
second furlong they ran
11.17, then
11.03 over the first 500m.
Passing the 600m marker, Jamie had a lap full of horse, whilst the others were nearing their top.
From the 600m to the 400m the field ran another even split of
11.03, then from the 400m the tempo increased slightly as Jamie let the brakes off just before the 200m where the field ran a
10.96 sec for that 400m to 200m split.
At the 200m
It was here that
I AM ME simply dropped her peers, and under hands and heels she dashed away, putting up a 3-length margin as the field hit the 100m marker.
100m
50m
Such was
the dominance of I AM ME, Jamie was able to grab hold of the filly and near enough at canter tempo, she crossed the stripe running an
eased down 11.69 final split to achieve a
2.25 length margin.
Winner - Winner Chicken Dinner!
I AM ME has been
beautifully placed to date, and
her owners are the beneficiaries.
The walk of champions - I AM ME returns to the winner's stall.
We believe she is a
black-type filly in waiting.
On Saturday we had also accepted with her at in
Adelaide, in the SAJC Redelva Stakes where our ratings had her as the second favourite in that race.
However, despite the black-type on offer being a Listed Stakes race, it was worth only
$57,975 to the winner and we were taking the
boys with some of those horses with Benchmark ratings up to
88 level.
I AM ME leading into that event was only a
Benchmark 68 horse, so despite the knowledge we had of her potential, she was meeting those horses up to 20 points worse =
10 kgs, but the spread in the weights was only
3.5kgs, so we were
6.5 kgs (approximately 5 lengths) worse off.
Had we won or placed in the Redelva Stakes, because of the grade of race it was and the spread of weights, the handicapper would have
whacked her significantly, denying
I AM ME and her owners the opportunity to compete at mid grade Benchmark races because as she would be rated far too highly.
In the Flemington race at
Benchmark 78 level, I AM ME was very well placed getting in on the limit of
54.0 kgs so had a
5kg pull in the weights on the top weight and was against her
own sex.
Therefore, after acceptances when we reviewed our options, the
sensible business decision was to stay in Melbourne and run at Flemington where the track surface was better for her and we were running for
$13,525 additional prizemoney which helps pay the training bills.
I AM ME had been trained out of the
Ciraon Maher Racing stables WARWICK FARM boxes.
However due to the
constant rain and heavy tracks, and whilst we know she handles rain affected ground, the fact is she is
blistering quick on top of it.
We always had our eye on resuming from a spell in the
Licketty Split, a $41,000 feature maiden race at Canberra over 1000m where, in not much more than an exhibition gallop, despite bombing the start, she picked up the
$25,000 first prize cheque on a Good 4 surface and smashed the
class record.
We then made the decision to
head to Melbourne to escape the Sydney wet ground. This proved a
masterstroke, as she has
won back to back with her Class 1 win at Ballarat and now a Benchmark 78 win at Flemington.
We anticipate
I AM ME will receive up to 4-5 benchmark points increase in her 68-rating taking her up to a
72 or 73 level for her next start.
We are giving
serious consideration to her next start being at
Scone in NSW at the Scone Cup meeting two-day carnival. On the
14th May there is a race named the
Denise’s Joy a Listed Race over 1100m for fillies and mares under Quality handicap conditions which suits her far better than the
Set Weights and Penalties against the boys of the
Redelva Stakes .
I AM ME would be well placed in this race which carries the all-important
Black-Type status plus a
$76,000 first prize cheque and a $20,000 BOBS Bonus as well, making the race very appealing. Whilst on the
same day at
Flemington there is the
exact same race again that she has just won, being a
Fillies and Mares Bm78 with worth
$71,500 to the winner.
So, we will be
nominating for both events and looking at the weather and track conditions before her next start is determined.
What the commenters said:
Race caller Matt Hill during the concluding stages of the call said:
“Now I AM ME let’s go at the 200m and takes the lead, I AM ME under hands and heels dart’s away now and I AM ME is going to bolt in. I AM ME won it well, very promising.”
Jason Richardson post-race summary said:
“Is she good? Damn straight she’s good! She’s gone to a whole different level this preparation, this filly by I AM INVINCIBLE is really quick, 6 starts, 3 wins 2 placings purchased for $210,000 at the Inglis Premier Sale, an I Am Invincible filly and it was interesting that Sheik Khalifa Al Maktoum had bred the horse stays in the horse with Dynamic Syndications. They are going to have a lot of fun with her, the sky looks the limit, she was odds-on and she won accordingly, Florescent Star lost no admirers but well beaten The Stylist the on-speed horse hangs on for third, but all honours the winner.”
Ben Asgari added-in: “She’s a nice filly, we had a good guide through a horse like Fluorescent Star who is a really consistent benchmark sort of horse, and she (I AM ME) is just way better than this grade I AM ME, you can tell already she’s a stakes class filly, and what level of stakes level she’s going to get to well we will learn in time but she is definitely headed for better races than the class she took on today.
“There was only one horse from a long way out that was going to be winning that race and that was the favourite I AM ME and punters have nailed that one as she was heavily backed.”
Brent Zerafa then commented: “That was arrogant, it was like watching a barrier trial, everything else was at its top and she was just cruising along, They have run a time of 1:04.18 which is inside of standard, and there didn’t look to be any sort of pressure in the first half of the race, so when we get the sectional breakdown, I think its been a feature of her past couple of victories her closing speed, and she has run some very serious time in her last 400m and 200m.”
David Eustace co-trainer was then interviewed by Jason Richardson:
Co-Trainer DAVID EUSTACE
JR: “Well Dave, to you and Ciaron congratulations, you have a really speedy filly on your hands, that was a very impressive win.”
DE: “Yeah, really nice filly, she’s really come of age in the last couple of months in the prep. She’s spent a lot of time up in Sydney, they did a really good job up there Joe and his team, just to get her to relax and switch off. She came down here for suitable tracks, on top of the ground and she’s nailed two from two down here and looks like she is going to continue to progress.”
JR: “And straight away, we watch that, and how easy it was, and look at the time and think, ‘gee black type,’ where do you extract black-type? Is she an Adelaide filly?
DE: “Yeah she could be, but we will have a chat with Adam (Watt) and his team and see where we go from here, because as I say, she’s got a nice (low) rating as well, but obviously mindful she’s a 3yo filly and gaining some black-type we are confident she will be able to do that, its just a matter at which stage we give her the opportunity. It’s great to get another winner for Dynamic, they are great supporters, and their team have done a really good job with her.”
JR: “Adam and Dean do a great job, they race with a lot of different trainers, have they had many with your team?”
DE: “Yes, we have a few, obviously up in Sydney, they have been really good supporters of the stable there, while its still in that development stage, they have been very, very good to us and again this year, so its good to get a main result for them, and hopefully a few more.”
JR: “Adam recently got married too, so a big cheerio to him, and that would put even more of a smile on his face. Looking forward to seeing what you do with her next, congratulations.”
Form analyst Brent Zerafa then comments: “Outstanding performance from I AM ME, and it was just so effortless the way she travelled up, and its not the highest quality of opposition you are going to see in a 1100m contest here at Flemington, but just Jamie Kah was motionless and just cruised to the line, she didn’t over race, she didn’t get keen, she was just happy to be in that position outside the leader, and when the brakes were released, there’s not many horses that have a sprint like that.”
Fellow form analyst Ben Asgari commented: “Yeah, this race was over a long way out. There was one horse you wanted to be on that was I AM ME, she showed that electric turn of foot she’s got and put the race away. I thought Florescent Star, we know what we are going to get with her, she’s a very good 1100m mare, she’s a great benchmark to tell you just how good a horse I AM ME is.
“The Winner doesn’t have to worry about benchmark races, and Jamie Kah was aboard the winner.”
Jamie Kah is interviewed by Jason Richardson:
Jockey Jamie Kah
JR: “Well Jamie, congratulations, you looked like you were aboard a pretty speedy and talented filly there. Take us through it.”
JK: “Yeah, I was luck enough to get the ride on her, it was my first sit on her, and she really impressed me. She’s got a lot of controlled speed, she is very relaxed, and I thought I had plenty to give but I was still surprised with the turn of foot she gave me, and there is still plenty of improvement, she was green and looking at the winning post, and such late.”
JR: “You look like you were keen to hold her together as long as possible, was that the plan?”
JK: “Yeah I though the horses around me weren’t going half as good as her (I AM ME) so I wanted just to hold her together and like I said, she’s quite green and when she hit the front she had a little bit of a look around. The team obviously has bigger targets with her and I thought she was very well placed and she is going to take a lot of experience away from that as well.”
JR: “Brilliant win, great day keep up the good form.”
BELOW: See for yourself what the hype is all about:
I Am Me - Flemington Winner - 25.4.22 from Dynamic Syndications on Vimeo.
The win of I AM ME recorded Dynamic Syndications 759th Race Win and our 33rd Race Win for the current 2021-22 racing season.