Another Dynamic Racing Story unfolded on Monday at Newcastle on the Beaumont track when our 3yo Filly FRANKIE'S ME DAD (FRANKEL x DADDY’S POPPET (Scat Daddy)) broke her maiden in an emphatic display of staying potential.
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Our Filly is trained by the Dynamic Duo of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace from their Warwick Farm base and was facing the starter for just her third raceday visit to the barriers.
FRANKIE'S ME DAD at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale after we purchased her from YULONG STUD
Stepping up from a 1460m Maiden on debut where she ran 8th of 11 beaten 6.67 lengths, (we just close our eyes and forget about that race!).
Then she jumped up to 1850m at her second start at Newcastle when ridden by Blake Spriggs where she was more than 10 lengths behind the leaders turning for home, and ran on superbly, to run third beaten 2.1 lengths. Blake hopped off to report she was terrific, still very green but would stay all day and had the race been 1900m he was adamant she would have won.
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Here at her third race start, our filly was out to 2100m, we engaged Blake Spriggs to ride her again knowing what he had under the bonnet. Blake and Frankie did the rest and were exceptional in an awesome display.
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Race 4 HUNGERFORD HILL CLASS 1 & MAIDEN PLATE 2100m
Class 1 & Maiden Set Weights, Three-Years-Old and Upwards, 1st $13,950
Beaumont Newcastle Soft 5 Time: 2:14.27 Last 600m: 0:36.10
Despite being poorly treated under the weights as a 3yo filly carrying 55.0kgs against the males who also carried the same weight, we knew we were already 2.0kgs upside down.
However, her class shone through as much as her exceptional genetic breeding and she certainly looks as if she can add further photos to the wall for her ownership team.
Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways, and this certainly could be the situation with FRANKIE’S ME DAD.
As an early 2yo she was at Death’s Door after paddock mishap.
She was spelling in a paddock with her stablemate when a terrible thunderstorm rolled through. The lighting was abundant and striking close by. Both our fillies were frightened and galloped away in pure panic. Unfortunately, they both did not stop when approaching the Post & Rail fencing.
One filly tried to hurdle the fence, didn’t make it, and was killed instantly, whilst FRANKIE’S ME DAD just barrelled straight into the fence smashing it into splinters. She survived but only just.
The resultant terrible injury saw her open her offside flank from prior to her shoulder to her hindquarter.
Sadly, it was both wide and deep and requiring emergency surgery to close the wound.
Next, we were then battling infection, and over the next few days she was extremely ill; we believed we were destined to lose her.
Battle scars - FRANKIE'S ME DAD came off second best against a fence in the spelling paddock
However, she fought tenaciously and slowly but surely pulled through. Her right-hand side looked like she was zippered together. The recuperation period was going to take a long time, and her owners showed tremendous patience and loyalty to their filly, and she has rewarded their efforts.
Whilst we are by no way getting carried away with a Maiden Win at Newcastle on a Monday, the fact is with 3yo’s they either stay or they don’t. Class will carry them a long way, but they still must be able to run the trip. She has the class, she has genetic, and she has strength of character. If ever a filly deserved a racetrack success it was FRANKIE’S ME DAD.
In this event, the Hungerford Hills Class 1 and Maiden Plate, she looked ideally placed and connections were extremely confident that she would be hard to beat. Then 30 minutes prior to the race, the top Weight and then favourite was a late scratching. Not that we were concerned about any of her peers in the event, it was still a luxury to have one less to defeat.
Tactically we are trying to teach the filly to settle in her races and conserve energy because she has such a brilliant turn of foot when asked to accelerate, we knew she would rattle home.
With Blake Spriggs aware of the filly’s traits, we asked Blake to settle the filly and allow her to get into a rhythm in the first half of the race. We had no fears of getting back to last, but just to stay out of trouble. Then start to engage before the point of the home turn and be the widest runner into the straight. The task was carried our superbly and our filly was able to win under hands and heels in a masterful display.
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Job Done!
As the gates crashed back, Blake came out neutral, and then angled across to the fence and allowed the field to sought itself out up front when going past the winning post the first time. Settling last, one off the fence, Blake watched it all unfold in front of him.
The field spread out over ten-lengths running down the back straight, but our Dynamic Duo just kept to their work peeling off even sectionals.
Blake then decided that at the 650m, the leaders were getting a little further away than he was happy with, so angled FRANKIE’S ME DAD three-wide into the running line and allowed her a little rein.
Approaching the home turn our filly was closing strongly as the field started to bunch.
Blake rode the ideal race, tracking 5-wide around the home turn, but importantly out of harm’s way. Such was the brilliance of our filly’s turn of foot, she picked up 4-lengths around the bend and by the 350m she was already in front. This was not quite to script as she arrived there too soon for a horse still learning her craft.
Passing the 300m and heading towards the 250m, FRANKIE’S ME DAD, got a little lost. She was in front and still a little green, not knowing what to do in this position and how to put her peers away.
Blake reported that she started to stargaze and had a big look at the barriers that had moved to the inside of the track, and then to the grandstand to the outside. At the 200m Blake pushed the go button 3 times and the filly responded and then at the 100m she started to switch off again. Blake pushed the button just once more and the filly concentrated and extended away under an easy hands and heels ride to the post.
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FRANKIE’S ME DAD will take enormous benefit from this event with both fitness and racecraft.
The rest is up to her now, but with natural improvement and learning what to do, connections are entitled to believe in a positive future with her. Under the expert tutelage of Ciaron Maher Racing - Australia’s Leading Stable, she is up at the right time and running the right trips to be a potential player in better races in the Autumn and Winter.
The race caller Anthony Manton said: “FRANKIE’S ME DAD with that fast move on the point of the turn put them away quickly and was able to see it out.”
Gavin Carmody from Sky Channel then stated: “Yeah too good, he (Blake Spriggs) rode the horse like the best horse in the race, did Blake Spriggs and FRANKIE’S ME DAD looked like at the top of the straight, she could win by half a dozen or so.”
Gary Harley chimed in: “It was absolutely bolting, he had a grip on it like you wouldn’t believe, and it just cruised up and hands and heels the last bit and the daughter of FRANKEL, the great horse, comes away to win.”
Post-race Ciaron Maher’s stable representative Martin Parsons was interviewed by Gavin Carmody.
Gavin said, “She just had a bit on them.”
Martin responded: “Yes most definitely, it was a great team accomplishment. Well done and full credit to our team at Warwick Farm who have done an outstanding job with her, and credit to Dynamic and especially Adam Watt, he’s been extremely patient with this filly giving her every opportunity with us, so it was great.”
Gavin then asked: “She was crying out for this trip, wasn’t she?”
Martin said: “Yes definitely, last start indicated to us that she definitely wanted to step up in distance, and finished off very, very strongly late, and proved that here today.”
Gavin then said: “Blake rode her like the best filly in the race, when he got moving on her.”
Martin then explained: “The intention was to just jump away well and just settle nicely within the field and finish off strongly as he has done here.”
Gavin continued: “And that will give her a bit of confidence no doubt, now she’s got that win on the board.”
Martin responded: “Look she’s one of those fillies that can be quite temperamental at times, and to see her settle in very well today, and finish off strongly, is a credit to all involved.”
Blake Spriggs was then returned to scale and was interviewed:
Gavin Carmody stated: “Blake, you rode her like the best filly in the race and she was.”
Blake answered: “Yeah, she gave me a really nice feel last time out, and when she got to a trip, certainly she’d show that staying class. Today I’m lucky she did. She got there way too early for a horse having her third start, but I was getting dragged away from the leaders at the half-mile and it got to a point that I had to get on my bike and she got there way too easy. She had a look at the barriers, got a bit lost out in front, but there is plenty of improvement there. Just a lot of good education from the team, she’s a horse with ability on the up.”
Gavin quipped: “She’s going to make a promising sort of stayer; you were trucking on her coming into the home straight.”
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Blake answered: “Yeah I was. We spoke beforehand and I felt she was the best horse in the race, and I thought even before the favourite came out, I just had to give her a chance to be strong late, so we wanted to ride her quiet. It may only be Newcastle on a Monday, she is certainly showing that when she gets that hardened sort of staying foundation, she’s going to make a handy horse.”
Congratulations to her loyal team of Dynamic Owners that race FRANKIE’S ME DAD: Dynamic Syndications Racing, Ms S R Smith, Mrs C Niven, Lenny's Investment Synd, Mrs K M Robertson, Mr S J Koukoulas, Mr A Pino, Mr L Condon, Mrs K Tew, Mr L Caminiti, Midoaksponds Synd, Mr M R Egan, Mr M D Shaw, Rexann Synd, Mr K Howarth, Dynamic no. 129 Synd, Mr D W Watt, Mrs B K Cutifani, C J R Racing Synd, Mr S Millsom
Frankie's Me Dad - Winner 13.2.23 from Dynamic Syndications on Vimeo.
This win by FRANKIE’S ME DAD was our 809th Race Win overall, and our 39th Race Win for the current season.
This was the ninth (9th) Race win the stable has trained for us this season, with 8 city wins and today’s win at Newcastle.
FRANKIE’S ME DAD also became our 283rd individual Winner from 327 Runners for a strike rate of 86.5% whilst 320 of our runners have earned prizemoney = 97.9%.
Onward and Upwards!