Facing the starter for the
fourth time in her career having been
runner-up twice previously,
our 3yo Filly SELFIE TIME (Savabeel x Bingo) trained by Rosehill based father and son co-trainers RICHARD and WILLIAM FREEDMAN headed to Kembla Grange on Saturday and contested Race 3 the Figtree 3yo Maiden SW 1400m and
won with ease by 2.8 lengths.
SELFIE TIME scores an easy win in the FIGTREE 3yo Mdn 1400m
A field of
8 acceptors was declared for this event of which
SELFIE TIME was one but we had also accepted with her in the Maiden 1200m event. Under the rules of racing, we had to decide which race we would run in by 5:00pm Thursday, the day of acceptances.
Having done our homework we believed the right race would be the 1400m which would suit our filly perfectly on her pedigree being a daughter of Savabeel out of an O’Reilly mare.
Whilst doing our due diligence we were aware that two runners Seany’s Girl and Noble Legend were engaged at Goulburn on the Friday.
We scratched from the 1200m event to run in the 1400m.
We had booked
exceptional young apprentice Dylan Gibbons to ride SELFIE TIME for us.
Dylan still claims 1.5kgs at the provincials but his lightest weight he could get to was 54.0kgs so we were able to take 1.0kg of his 1.5kg allowance.
Dylan was heading into the meeting on
199 career wins in two seasons of race riding.
Then of Friday, both Seany’s Girl and Nobel Legend chose to race at Goulburn so the field at Kembla would reduce to six runners.
Then on Saturday morning there was another scratching when The Seeker was scratched. So, we had a field of 5 runners.
At that time the Gwenda Marwell trained Sawrey was a $1.50 favourite and
SELFIE TIME was a $3.00 second favourite. Despite the prices the stable and connections were adamant that
SELFIE TIME would win and that was based upon weights and measures and ability and class. Further the $3.00 price was
“money for jam.”
Sawrey who was backing-up from Warwick Farm three days earlier on 27 July 2022, underwent a pre-race veterinary examination and was found to be lame (2/5) in the near hind leg and was declared a late scratching at 12.32 p.m.
So we were down to a field of just 4 runners and the market price was adjusted to
$1.30 favourite.
In the pre-race parade
SELFIE TIME looked a treat and a certainly a few classes above her peers.
Pre-race Dylan Gibbons was interviewed and was very bullish about his chance to
bring up his 200th win on SELFIE TIME.
He said he believed he should win with Sawrey in the race, but now it was a late scratching, this made the assignment to bring up
200 wins significantly easier. Selfie Time had finished runner-up in two of her previous three outings, including a most recent second at Goulburn.
“She went super there, and it probably wasn’t the best of circumstances for an inexperienced horse,” Gibbons said.
“She got cluttered up and still found the line, so I thought it was a tremendous run.”
Behind the barriers the field was well behaved, and support continued for
SELFIE TIME who firmed into
$1.20.
It should have been put in – take out but horse racing is never that easy as our filly decided she would give rider, connections, and punters alike a few heart flutters before claiming victory.
As the gates crashed back
SELFIE TIME began awkwardly but settled into a rhythm before rolling forward to take up the lead and taking bad luck out of the equation.
As she approached the 1000m marker, Dylan gave her a slight squeeze to quicken into the top turn.
It’s here that
SELFIE TIME “put on a show” and raced ungenerously, she got her head up on a number of occasions and tried to buck twice.
Dylan showed his
horsemanship and with kind hands got
SELFIE TIME to come back underneath him and back into a rhythm, leading on the fence. At this point despite a 1000m to go, it was race over.
The field raced in two pairs with the $31 longshot Aljata sitting at our girth and tracking
SELFIE TIME was Miss Liebovitz $5.50 and at its girth was Fear The Truth $7.50.
Bowling along in even sectionals, Dylan increased the tempo as the field swung for home getting those chasing, to come off the bit.
Hands and heels Dylan has an armchair ride to the post
Dylan waited as long as he could and at the 300m pushed the
“go button” and
SELFIE TIME bounded clear.
Dylan rode our filly out for 200m and then passing the 100m mark, Dylan took a sustained look over his left shoulder, then his right shoulder to ensure he was safely in control. Seeing nothing and knowing that
SELFIE TIME was staying on strongly, and no runner was making ground, Dylan sat up on
SELFIE TIME and the
Dynamic Duo simply cantered over the final 50m to record a widening 2.8 length margin over Miss Liebovitz with a further 0.8 length back to Aljata who claimed 3rd spot while Fear The Truth finished 4th, 6.1 lengths behind
SELFIE TIME.
So easy for this Dynamic Duo - they could have stopped for a "Selfie"
Returning to the winners stall
Dylan Gibbons recorded his 200th Race Ride WIN in two years on SELFIE TIME.
Dylan Gibbons scores his 200th Race Win
Dylan reported to the owners:
“Yeah brilliant. She bounced well, I just sort of flowed with her, and when we got to the lead, I just got her back into her rhythm and as one came around me, it fired her up a bit, and I didn’t move my hands much and she got a bit more pressure she over did it.
“She’s not the finished product yet and when we straightened up, the team told me she’s got a good turn of foot, so I just waited to use that, and they were never going to get near us.
“She’s still very raw, and when you ask her to go, she really doesn’t know the way to go yet, so there’s plenty of upside with her, a few little gear things you could do with her as well, so she’s definitely a nice horse for the future.”
In claiming victory,
SELFIE TIME career record is now 4 Starts: 1-2-0 and $30,900.
SELFIE TIME was bred by
Waikato Stud and was a
$110,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale purchase for Dynamic Syndications and Dean Watt Bloodstock.
SELFIE TIME as a yearling
She is out of the O’Reilly mare
Bingo whose Savabeel colt was knocked down at Karaka earlier this year for
$440,000. Bingo is a half-sister to the dam of the Gr1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner Aegon with Waikato Stud’s multiple top-flight winner Daffodil also featuring on the pedigree page.
Congratulations to her Top Team of Loyal Dynamic Syndications Owners: Dynamic Syndications Racing, Mr B Coopersmith, Mr R Bale, Mrs M K Sheehan, Mr B Aitkenhead, Mr J Fleming, G & Y Racing, Mr GR Fraser, Mr GJ Evans, Mr D Scott, Mr J Breslin, Graftam, Southern Land Properties, Mr S R Freeman, Mr PJ Evans, Dynamic no. 124
Selfie Time - Winner 30.7.22 from Dynamic Syndications on Vimeo.
This win by SELFIE TIME became Dynamic Syndications 43rd Race Win for the 2021-22 Racing Season and our 769th Race Win Overall.
Importantly, SELFIE TIME was our 270th Individual Winner.
Hoofnote: SELFIE TIME was the first of 2 Winners on the day for Team Dynamic trained by RICHARD and WILLIAM FREEDMAN.
LOVE TAP with apprentice Kyle Wilson-Taylor returns to the winner's circle
Later at Eagle Farm the boys also trained LOVE TAP to win the Open Company race over 1400m for us.
Congrats to all.