Sometimes in racing, far to much pressure and far to much expectation is placed upon winning over the actual performance of those who don't reach instant success at that moment in time. It's a human frailty in our society that everything is dictated about being first.
In racing it's a strategic plan that comes off which offers and gives far greater satisfaction than the instant adrenalin rush of a win that is too hard to maintain start after start and when defeat is experienced then, in some people, the worse of human personalities bubble to the surface.
On Saturday at Kembla, Dynamic Syndications and our team of owners in the promising filly LAUGHING, went to the races for the first time. Expectation was high based upon two excellent lead in trial wins. However as often is the case in racing defeat was experienced rather than victory.
Laughing debuted at Kembla with a brilliant 2nd
Or was it?
The results column will reveal that LAUGHING finished in second position, one length behind the winner Elan Grenadine but 2.8 lengths back to third place.
When we dig deeper the stats reveal incredible information.
We may have finished second in this particular battle however the future looks particularly bright for this filly.
The race was run as anticipated by connections. We expected the eventual winner would hold the fence and we would sit at it's girth which did happen. However we hoped the leader would run out of gas the final 100m based upon its trials two trials were at 735m where ours were 900m and 1030m. However it kept going and our filly being out wider without the rail to follow and covering more ground, ran about through inexperience which combined with the leader laying out the final 100m, cost us a win. Had the margin been a little closer we would have protested and we believe we would have had a very good hope but at 1 length, it could not be justified.
Our rider rode the perfect race. He returned to report that had the barriers been reversed he was confident we would have won with the benefit of the rail to follow. He said she went super and wants further and just inexperience was the difference. She star gazed the final 150m and ran about changing lead legs through greeness.
So what did the result reveal ?
1) The track was upgraded from a heavy 8 to a slow 7 half an hour before the race.
2) The event was a 3yo fillies maiden.
3) The winner and runner up carried a massive 59.0kgs each.
4) The Class Record of 58.20 had been set on a good 3 track by Forward Miss carrying 54.0kg. So .... ,
5) Our race was run in a sizzling 58.28 on a Slow 7 carrying 59.0kgs. Just .08 (8/100ths) outside the record, lumping 5.0kgs more on a Slow 7 not a Good 3 surface.
6) These fillies ran an unbelievable 33.11 secs for their last 600m. To put that into comparison, this was the FASTEST TIME EVER RECORDED at Kembla Grange for ANY CLASS of horse on a Slow track. The previous best time was recorded on 1/3/2007 by gelding Adriatic Ocean carrying 54.0kgs in 33.46 secs. So these two fillies lowered this record by a staggering 0.35 secs. With the rule of thumb being 1.0 sec = 7 lengths that represents a time of approximately 2.5 lengths faster than ever recorded.
7) When comparing the weights, these fillies carried 5.0kgs more. Plus add in the fact that 3yos in get 0.5kgs off older horses at this time and females get an additional 2.0kgs. So it can be successfully argued that these fillies met that sectional record 7.5kgs worse than Adriatic Ocean. With the weight scale being approximately 1.5 kgs = 1 length that represents a massive 5.0 lengths better on the weight scales. So add that to the 2.5 lengths superior time/speed finish then again for those who do ratings,this was approximately a 7.5 length better performance than has ever been recorded in the 100 year history of racing at Kembla Grange for All Horses on a Slow Track.
8) On ratings this performance was certainly rating through to high class levels.
Gerald Ryan has done a sensational job with this above average filly
Now bring into the picture that our filly was 1 hour from death on Easter Sunday this year and rushed into surgery for an emergency surgery at 5:00am after what was considered a severe colic attack only to find that she had a foreign object blocked in her gut which evidence showed had been there for a long period. Believed to be fibrous material such as a hay net or torn horse blanket strip or something similar, which had grown so large in her gut due to compaction of other foreign matter it had turned septic. We were told she had only a slight chance to make it through the operation.
So in the terms of where we have been with her and where we are heading she is a Big Winner to our Dynamic Team of owners.
We know for sure she can run and when the day does come she puts the photo on the wall it will be hugely satisfying for all.