Bang! What a wonderful way to conclude the final Metropolitan Saturday Meeting of the 2023/34 Racing Season in NSW, as Team Dynamic sign off with yet another city winner.
HI DUBAI wins the TAB Hcp 1100m at Randwick 27 July 24
Our courageous 4yo mare HI DUBAI proved too tough, too good for her peers in Race 5, the TAB Handicap over 1100m, a Benchmark 72 for 3yo’s and 4yo.
A combination of excellent horse husbandry and care by the Ciaron Maher Team, matched with tremendous race planning and battle tactics by Adam Watt from Dynamic Syndications, carried out to perfection by “go-to” jet pilot Tim Clark blended beautifully to produce one of our more satisfying victories for the 2023/24 season.
This Win by HI DUBAI clocked up Dynamic Syndications 62nd Win for the season.
It also Recorded our 890th Race Win Overall and was our 22nd Metropolitan Victory for the season.
On Friday afternoon as we left the office, weather forecasts hinted that we were going to have nice conditions and the possibility of a track upgrade from a Soft 5 to a Good 4. However, they got it wrong again, and Sydney was hit by a rain band and an unusual winter morning thunderstorm that dumped down on Royal Randwick. Instead of the forecast improvement 12 hours earlier the track tumbled to a Heavy 9, and with little growth in the middle of Winter, the track quickly broke-up and became a shifting bog.
That would wash away our hopes in Race 3 with Dynamic runner Jumeriah Beach who won’t lift his legs on wet ground but did play into the hopes of our 4yo mare HI DUBAI who has sadly been plagued by knee issues during her career, and whilst she likes good ground, she also handles wet ground well.
Having started the day with a near impossible assignment from barrier 13 of 14, there was an early scratching, then two late scratchings as the track downgraded taking us into barrier 10 of 11 to load into the machines.
Having watched early races it became clear that the fence was a “no-go” zone after the first two races, as the track was breaking-up clods the size of dinner plates and the massive amount of “fill” from past damage was making conditions near impossible.
We knew we were going to be caught wide, but we were happy to be 3-4 deep down the side. We believed if we could land in the first couple of pairs and be close-up swinging for home, the best way to ride the tack would be to cut the corner saving ground, then sweep straight out to the outside fence as we turned for home, where the track hadn’t been galloped upon so that surface wasn’t breaking up as yet.
With the rail out 11 metres, it would be hard for horses on the inside to make ground, so if we were first to get out wide, and we were the widest down the straight, it would be near impossible to beat our mare who was arriving here third-up after a long lay-off, much fitter, and with her natural early pace, and a drop in the weights of 2.0kgs from her last start, plus going up in distance a further 100m, these factors along with one of the best front running riders in the business doing the steering, we gave ourselves a tremendous belief we were a genuine winning hope.
From when the gates crashed back until 66.76 seconds later when the camera flashed, our recipe for success had produced a wonderful victory for a tremendous group of loyal and very patient ownership team.
We could not have asked for the race to pan out any better. Just as we had imagined it could and should, it did !
As the gates crashed back, HI DUBAI was out fast and forward in the field and as expected there was a couple of on tempo horses that ploughed forward, ensuring a fast early tempo which spread the field out which on this surface, would be a disadvantage to those back in the ruck.
Tim Clark flowed forward to settle in third spot, but we were 4-deep early without cover however that didn’t matter on this surface. Passing the 800m the field had settled into positions and Taormina and Vegas Raider were leading, eyeballing each other, but the pace was “far too hot” and both these runners would drop out and be beaten a long way in the finish.
Tim had HI DUBAI tracking Taormina a length and a half in fourth spot but to the inside of us Moss Gold was holding third spot on the fence. Moss Gold would drop out as well and be defeated a long way which highlights the effort of HI DUBAI to be making the speed and go on to win.
Passing the 600m Tim was out wide and starting to improve towards the lead whilst eventual runner-up Cosy Corner was one length back off us to our outside.
As the field swung around the home turn, all runners fanned out across the track, as if it was athletics race rather than a horse race. Tim moved up on HI DUBAI to eyeball the leaders on straightening and then drove out on a 45 degree angle to the outside rail, straightening up one horse inside the paint.
Cosy Corner who was trying to get the same racing line ducked back inside us and with its valuable 2.0kg pull in the weights laid down the challenge at the 300m in what would prove a two horse war up the straight.
Passing the 200m marker Cosy Corner had caught us and with 150m had stuck its head in front.
Tim and HI DUBAI would not be out muscled. With 75m to run, class and courage rose to the fore and stride by stride we regained the lead and would forge clear over the final 30m to post a widening 0.32 length margin when the camera flashed with another 2.25 lengths between second and third whilst the field came in spread out over 18 lengths between first and last.
It’s extremely rewarding when a plan come off.
JOB DONE!
HI DUBAI gets a well deserved "Pat"in the winner's circle
Ciaron Maher’s Warwick Farm assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord was interviewed by Sky Channel’s commentator Aly Mosely who started with: “Well done Joh, they used every bit of that track. HI DUBAI was unlucky first-up but third-up, turns the tables on World Alliance and gets the job done.”
"Aussie Joh" Johann Gerard-Dubord
Aussie Joh answered: “Yeah, great to get another win for Dynamic. She’s a mare that came to us with a few issues. She had a long time off. She needed a run first-up. The other day at Warwick Farm she was unlucky, but she was very good. She’s come on from it, and today we had a plan to find the outside fence, and Tim did that very well. She was very tough; it was a fight all the way down the straight, she got her head in front and it was a good result.”
Aly than said: “And you mentioned she had that time off the scene; she had a setback, she had almost a year off?”
Joh said: “Yeah, she did. She had knee surgery. But to be fair, she spends all her time at Bong Bong (Moss Vale) which is a great facility, and there is a track uphill, and I think a horse like her is really benefiting from it, and hopefully she can keep going, but she did enjoy the conditions too. It was a good win.”
Next jockey Tim Clark was interviewed by Sky Channel’s Brad Gray: “Tim, a tough win for a mare that had that sense of timing third-up.”
Tim answered, “Yeah that’s right. She had obviously that stop in momentum there the other day, and when she got out, she still got to the line and ran really well. So up to 1100m; obviously the draw looked a little sticky Wednesday when the fields came out, but the way the days panning out today, it ended up working in our favour.”
Brad then inquired: “Was that a plan to get towards the outside fence?”
Tim confirmed: “Yeah it was, the inside is pretty good I reckon, but from where we drew, we were not going to get to the inside. So, the next best option was the outside, so it worked out well.”
HI DUBAI 4yo Chestnut Mare by HIGHLAND REEL (IRE) from EUREKA DUBAI
Purchased at the Inglis Classic 2021 $30,000 + GST
Summary: 8 starts = 2:2:2 Prizemoney: $167,850
Good: 5:1-2-1 Soft: 1:0-0-0 Heavy: 2:1-0-1
1st of 11 RAND 27Jul24 1100m Hvy8 3&4Y BM72 $160,000 ($82,500) Tim Clark 56.5kg Bar10 Rtg 69 2nd Cosy Corner 54.5kg, 3rd Bundeena 58kg 1:06.76 (600m 36.68), 0.32L, 4th@800m, 4th@400m, $12/$11/$14/$15
TIM CLARK speaks with Adam Watt to give Hi Dubai's Owners the post race report on the win.
A Victory at Headquarters always warms up the Owners emotions of a win!
CONGRATULATIONS to Our Dynamic Team of Co-Owners that race HI DUBAI: Dynamic Syndications Racing, Mr R J Gall, Ms T L McManus, Mr A C Clarke, Mr D P Lacey, Mr PJ Wimpey, Mrs C J Laing, Mr L T Duignan, Mr J J Cleveley, Mr M N O'Connor, Mr D Uren, Mr T Ticina, Gallop Schnell, Mr A Stewart, Mr M F O'Reilly, Why Racing, Mr S J Brereton, Mrs H L Hohn, Mrs N M Leyton
Hi Dubai - Winner 27.7.24 from Dynamic Syndications on Vimeo.
This win was no fluke.
HI DUBAI is a very talented mare which can be seen in her form.
From her 8 career starts she has won 2 in town and placed 4-times.
She is a Royal Randwick Saturday Winner over 1100m
She won her Maiden on debut at Canterbury over 1100m
She was runner-up at Rosehill on a Saturday by a pimple when beaten 0.02 length
She was runner-up on the Randwick -Kensington track by just 0.38 length
She has run 3rd at Royal Randwick on a Saturday 4.3 lengths
She has run 3rd at Warwick Farm by just 1.5 lengths when held-up
We arrived at this event ready for our mare to show her best now she was properly fit for the first time this preparation.
She had only the one easy trial on 17 May when 3rd over 900m at Rosehill.
Then instead of a second trial, she went to Hawkesbury first-up on 18 June over 1100m on a soft 6 but had to carry 61.5kgs so we took a 3.0kg claim to gain weight relief. However, things went against her in that race and her effort was better than it reads.
Next, at her second start we dropped back to 1000m and carried 58.5kgs which was 1.0kg over our allotted weight of 57.5kg for Nash Rawiller to ride, to ensure we had a senior rider on board to tell us vital information post-race on the mare’s performance. On a Heavy 9 surface, we ended up giving the winner World Alliance 0.5kg in weight, and we had zero luck, but Nash was full of confidence that our mare was back and would be hard to beat back out over 1100m.
We came into this race as our target race, dropping 2.0kgs down to 56.5kgs having carried 58.5kgs in both runs back. Then up to 1100m was going to suit perfectly, and we grabbed leading front rider Tim Clark to judge the speed. Then when we drew the carpark in barrier 13 of 14 our collective hearts sunk but we had to run here to be ready for her next couple of assignments. That’s when the racing gods smiled upon her ownership team when the downpour turned the track into a bog.
Onwards & Upwards – Forever Forward !