Dynamic Syndications produced an exciting 2yo Colt on Saturday in the
time-honoured Breeders Plate Gr3 1000m for the Colts and Geldings and there were
3 colts in the race that had
“flashing lights” on them as horses to follow.
They were: the winner
Sejardan (Sebring – Inglis Classic) who posted the best performance on the day, along with our colt
HARD TO SAY (Exceed And Excel – Magic Millions) who was desperately unlucky in the straight to run 4th just 0.11 from 3rd place, whilst
Calico Jack (Merchant Navy – Magic Millions) finished strongly to in 6th place after getting too far out of its ground early.
The Breeders Plate was won by Sejardan who defeated Zambezi River by 1.18 lengths with third going to Emperor 1.79 lengths and Hard To Say in fourth 1.9 lengths.
Sejardan was the
most professional and had the
best racecraft on the day and was aided by a
spectacular ride when he proved too strong for his peers.
Zambezi River had
no excuses as it had the perfect run throughout tracking the speed, thanks to James MacDonald and the gap appeared at the right time and the colt was given an easy passage which allowed it to gain momentum and finish in second place.
Emperor had been on pace and was out of gas and starting to fade which
cost Hard To Say valuable momentum when our horse was forced to veer out from behind it to gain clear running whilst the winner Sejardan who was to our inside came out with us and our colt’s inexperience saw
Hard To Say over-react and duck out, which cost us track position, distance, speed and momentum inside the last 100m but
Hard To Say balanced again at the 50m and knuckled down to the task, flying home to just miss out on third spot by
0.11 length.
The
stats on the race were revealing.
The Last 600m Sejardan ran
33.93, Calico Jack
34.01, Zambezi River
34.28 Hard To Say
34.47, Emeperor
34.66
Hard To Say ran the fastest 200m sectional of all runners in the race reeling of a 10.19 from the 800m to the 600m.
Hard To Say was highlighted in the Stewards Report which said:
“Hard To Say – On jumping was crowded between Victory Moments and Calico Jack, which shifted out. In the middle stages raced keenly and, approaching the 600m, was awkwardly placed on the heels of Resonator. From the 300m until the 200m had difficulty obtaining clear running. Near the 150m shifted out and away from Sejardan as that runner improved to the outside of Spacewalk.”
Hard To Say ran sectionals of:
1000m-800m 13.45 (checked at start)
800m-600m 10.19 (fastest of any split of all runners)
600m-400m 11.06 (restrained – over racing)
400m-200m 11.27 (Held-up)
200m-Finish 12.14 (change course, shifted out, lost momentum)
Post-race press comment our rider
Sam Clipperton said: "He ran super. Quite a green horse naturally but will take a lot of improvement.”
As far as a ride goes, we could not have asked for a better ride from
any jockey, Sam Clipperton was brilliant in the saddle and gave
Hard To Say a gem of a ride.
Sadly, luck in running wasn’t kind on the
Dynamic Duo. After getting checked at the start, Sam steered
Hard to Say into the gun position, one out one back, but unfortunately our colt just over raced a bit but when we needed the luck to kick-in at the 300m, the leaders across the track in front were racing tight and wobbling about not allowing clear passage.
Same went top the outside of those runners, Zamezi River to our inside got a gap open and went through whilst winner Sejardan came out with us, and our colt got a shock and ducked away from it.
We are
adamant that this cost us
third spot and realistically
we should have run second.
The winner was too good but second spot went begging.
Hard To Say Breeders Plate 21 from Dynamic Syndications on Vimeo.
That really hurt, as we had supported our colt on an each way basis when betting opened seeing him shorten from
$61 into $21.
Hard To Say certainly
burst the bubble on many of his
high-priced peers, again proving our statement that
“Horses don’t know how much you pay for them.”
However,
genetics does. These were the genetic ratings of the first 4 across the line as yearlings:
Sejardan:
A+ 633% Overall, A 425% Southern Hemisphere, Quality Rating 4
Sebring / Miss Amajardan
Zambezi River: A+ 957% Overall, A 352% Southern Hemisphere, Quality Rating 7
I Am Invincible / Zamzam
Emperor: A+ 957% Overall, A 352% Southern Hemisphere, Quality Rating 5
I Am Invincible / Jolie Bay
Hard To Say: A 232% Overall, A 428% Southern Hemisphere, Quality Rating 7
Exceed And Excel / Malasun
Our trainer JASON DEAMER has reported
our colt has pulled up extremely well from his first raceday experience and handles the trip to Sydney and return without issue.
He had an
easy day in a small yard on Sunday and heads to the
paddock Monday morning for a few weeks off to before coming back to aim at qualifying for the
Magic Millions on 15 January. Qualification for that race is based upon prizemoney won.
Running 4th in the Breeders Plate resulted in
Hard To Say picking up $7,200 towards qualifying.
He will be aimed at a 2yo race at the end of November and mid-December to build on his prizemoney pot to gain a start.