It’s a fantastic feeling when your horse wins !
Even more so, when you buy a tried racemare through an online auction with a
big pedigree chock-full of black-type but missing one important ingredient – a Win !
This mare was a $280,000 yearling by a Champion Sire from a mare who is a daughter of a Champion Sire and Champion Broodmare Sire.
Prior to buying this racemare, she had
raced twice: Running
3rd of 7 on debut at Warwick Farm (so she had that
necessary city race performance on the pedigree page) but then at her next and only other start, she is beaten over 10 lengths at the provincials and immediately spelled.
You make a decision to buy her based on
type, based on
early racetrack performance, based upon a
super commercial pedigree, based upon
excellent genetic balance in the pedigree, based upon
experience and …. based upon
gut-feel.
You do your
due diligence, do your
raceform analysis and then, you send in your
vet to check the horse over from head to toe.
Then part of your due diligence is
comparing how the
pedigree page was when the mare was a yearling at the sales, demanding to be bought for $280,000 and how it looks today.
Had the page improved? Did it improve a little? a lot? or not at all?
Your due diligence tells you there has been
significant upgrades in this pedigree. For example:
.1) The mare had not produced a runner with her first two foals when this mare was sold as the third foal yearling. The Dam has now improved significantly - producing
4 Foals to Race, All Winners.
.2) A Winning half-sister your mare’s Dam has since produced a
Gr3 Winning, Listed Race placed, winner of 5 races to nicely fatten-up the pedigree page.
.3) Another half-sister to your mare’s Dam becomes the
Grand-dam of a new Stakes Placed winner of 5 races adding further black-type to the page.
.
4) Whilst a further half-sister to your mare’s Dam who had already produced a Group 2 Winner, sees that horse add a further
3 Stakes Placings to the pedigree page.
So, after all that, you know the
odds are stacked in your favour from an investment strategy.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that the
missing ingredient that makes the mare really valuable is a race
win.
The mare we purchased is LOCHITA - a daughter of LONHRO x INCHITA by ENCOSTA DE LAGO.
So, we took the punt and purchased the mare. Now what?
To increase her residual value as a potential broodmare, we decided where the mare needs to head, to give us an increased opportunity of winning.
The
right decision we concluded, was to send her to our
Dynamic Team Member - Trainer JASON DEAMER at Newcastle.
This way we could target easier race grades up the mid-north coast and win a maiden and a few easier grade races and if she can capture the form she showed on debut, we can sneak her back to town.
So, she headed into Jason’s stables for training and day-by-day, the reports from Jason continue to
grow in confidence. Then as we head into the Christmas – New Year season,
LOCHITA has her first trial for her new trainer and without surprise, wins with ease in quick time and anticipation grows.
Jason says he is ready to head to the races but our Team at Dynamic always like to give our horses a second trial, to ensure they are really fit for their first up assignments.
We had identified a race we wanted to kick-off her preparation for us at
Taree on the 20th January. It was the
Wingham Services Club Fillies and Mares Maiden Plate over 1257m, a Set Weights restricted to Fillies and Mares where despite
LOCHITA being placed in town, the handicapper couldn’t impose a big weight upon her. She would get a
Set Weight of 58.0kgs.
So, a fortnight after she trialled at Newcastle, there was a race meeting being held at Taree on the 13th January where they would run a barrier trial after the last race.
Jason chose to take
LOCHITA up to Taree to give her a trial.
Knowing that the race we were targeting was just 7 days later, Jason just wanted
LOCHITA to have a soft trial but more important was the opportunity to have a float trip away and then, a good look around at the track she would compete at 7 days later. Jason also wanted to give
LOCHITA an easy trial to ensure she had plenty in the tank come raceday.
Anyone who saw that trial couldn’t have missed how
impressive it was. Settling well back and storming home down the outside under a double stranglehold, picking up 8 lengths from the turn to run second beaten half a length.
Job done, experience gained, a good fitness hit-out under no pressure.
Then
Adam Watt added another masterstroke to the equation when he called upon
jockey Christian Reith and asked our
"go-too" jockey for a favour?
Would he drive all the way to Taree from Sydney for us to ride our mare?
Christian is a great Team Player and said he would for which,
Team Dynamic were exceptionally grateful.
We nominated and accepted for the race at Taree on the 20th January.
There were
15 acceptances for the race.
We were number 2 but copped
barrier 15 of 15 in a field size of 12 + 3 emergencies.
Then the rain came.
We are so glad to see rain but we had been training on good tracks and suddenly we’re resuming from a spell on a
Heavy 10, carrying 58.0kgs, from the outside barrier. This wasn’t part of the plan and we knew it was going to be very demanding.
There was a total of 5 scratching’s for this race, so we would jump from
barrier 10 of 10.
We had to
make a decision at
7:27am, 3 minutes before scratching’s closed, would we run or would we scratch?
Taking into consideration all our known fundamentals, plus having belief in our mare that despite the road blocks in her way, we believed her class would carry the day and we had belief in Christian that he would give
LOCHITA every chance to run to her best.
However, nothing goes smoothly in our sport and as things turned out,
it needed a terrific ride by Christian Reith to get the job done.
As the field left the saddling enclosure on the way to the barriers, the heavens opened and the rain came down in sheets. The visibility was failing as the
rain was blowing sideways, and the track was under deluge.
Into the outside barrier went the
Dynamic Duo and as the gates crashed back, away they scampered.
LOCHITA went forward for a few strides and then Christian allowed the speed to go, and after 150m the field divided into two halves and Christian was able to angle across and
slot-in one off the fence, on the outside of the second favourite and eventual runner-up Toguchi (56.5 kgs), where they settled
3 pairs back in fifth/sixth position, some
6 lengths off the leaders.
Approaching the 600m mark, the horse
LOCHITA was following Ourlittlejeanie ridden by Serg Lisnyy quickly gave ground. This caused Christian to need to check
LOCHITA, loosing momentum at this vital stage, whilst Digger McLellan on board Toguchi saw this unfold to his outside, so he quickly improved to one-off the fence and in the space of a few strides, had gained a 2-length break on
LOCHITA. On the
Heavy 10 surface and into driving rain and slush, Christian had to re-balance
LOCHITA again and start to build back into the race.
At this stage the field was heading into the
home turn and
LOCHITA was still 6 lengths away from the leaders and under hard riding.
At this point favourite backers would be getting ready to
tear up their tickets, but
nobody told Christian and LOCHITA that they couldn’t win.
Christian angled
LOCHITA to be the widest runner into the straight and gave chase but just as
LOCHITA started to extend, a wayward Toguchi infront of her shifted out, causing another loss of momentum as Christian had to angle out and away.
Christian then got to work on
LOCHITA and the duo stormed down the outside to eyeball Toguchi who had a 1.5kg pull in the weights.
It became a
match race over the final 100m but the
class of
LOCHITA and the
determination of
Christian Reith along with the
preparation and foundation of
Jason Deamer prevailed and the pair eased away over the final few strides to claim a
0.18 length win with the third placed Miss Piper Rose a further 3.36 lengths away.
Job Done !
A vital WIN on her resume achieved and now a mare that has
rocketed in residual value for the breeding barn upon racing retirement.
This was a
marvellous result for Dynamic trainer JASON DEAMER.
Whilst it was only a Taree maiden win – it meant
far more in commercial value than that for her
owners.
LOCHITA looked a treat pre-race, had trialled twice like a good horse should and had a top rider on board but …. The job still had to be done and it was.
CHRISTIAN REITH snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
JASON DEAMER with excellent horsemanship and attention to detail had the mare ready to perform despite pre-race and mid-race adversities.
It’s not all about where you win or how you win - its about getting the win.
As they say
“an inch is as good as a mile.”
Whilst the margin was
small the win was
huge.
Congratulations to our Dynamic Owners on your exciting win in the slush by LOCHITA:
Dynamic Syndications Racing Syndicate, Mr D W Watt, Mr T Krezo, Mr PW Robertson, Mr S B Troughton, Mr J Yianni
LOCHITA 4yo Bay Mare foaled: 20-Sep-2015
by LONHRO from INCHITA
Career Record: 3 starts: 1 Win, 0 Seconds, 1 Third
Catalogue Race Record: Winner at 1257m in 2019-20, 3d ATC Winter Racing P.
WINGHAM SERVICES CLUB F&M MAIDEN PLATE 1257 METRES
1st of 10 TAREE 20/1/20 F&M MDN-SW 1257m Heavy 10 $22,000 ($11,200) Christian Reith 58kg Bar10 2nd Toguchi 56.5kg, 3rd Miss Piper Rose 58kg 1:14.93 (600m 37.33), 0.18L, 6th@800m, 5th@400m, $2/$2.10/$1.80/$1.95 fav
Margins 0.18 length x 3.36 lengths
The win by LOCHITA was our 220th Individual Winner from 233 Individual Runners (94.4% Winners : Runners).
LOCHITA also recorded our 623rd Race Win and our 26th Race Win for this Racing Season.
How the Pedigree Page now looks: (Yellow highlights indicate where the page has improved)
Onwards and Upwards !