Dynamic Syndications, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott are aiming at the historic
Gr1 DONCASTER Handicap on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ at
Royal Randwick next Saturday 10 April, after our
Dynamic 4yo gelding YAO DASH (Smart Missile x Rahy Storm) whose a serious up-and-coming talent,
rose in grade and distance to crash his way into the field and into genuine market contention.
Wow Factor ! YAO DASH romps home for effortless Gr3 Win in Race Record Time
YAO DASH demoralised his peers when
winning the Gr3 DONCASTER PRELUDE over 1500m, leading all-the-way and taking out the event in
Race Record Time of
1:28.34 lowering the previous mark by
0.69 sec which had been set at
1:29.03 in 2016 by Havana Cooler.
Our horse is
absolutely airborne and as a result of his dominant display,
YAO DASH has seen his early market price slashed from
$51 into $13 for the time-honoured
Blue-Riband event and if the ratings experts we use are correct, there would be no more than a
handkerchief covering the chances of the top two in betting and
Yao Dash who sits at a luxury price of $13.
Australia’s First Lady of Racing GAI Waterhouse will look to add to her strong Doncaster Mile record with our progressive, lightly raced prospect.
YAO DASH is a true light weight chance for his acid test in the Gr1 Doncaster Mile with 50kg, as he looks to make history as the first horse to win the double.
The lure of the
DONCASTER PRELUDE for connections is that it’s
exempt from a handicap penalty for the winner and
exempt from ballot status into the Doncaster final field.
Gai and Adrian have been adamant since his 3yo days he is a
genuine Doncaster candidate and that 1600m would suit our gelding far better than the shorter trips.
Regular rider
Nash Rawiller was also strongly pushing us to
have a crack at the race when weights were released and
YAO DASH was given 50,0kgs. Nash had told us way back at the second career start for his second win when defeating Funstar at Randwick on the
7th September 2019, that our horse would make into a lovely Doncaster hope.
At
50.0kgs it has been a
marvellous piece of race planning by Dynamic Syndications Adam Watt to map out a
program which our trainers could adapt so to
force our way into the race, and at this
postage stamp, he appears to have beaten the handicapper by
dropping a further 3.0kgs from his brilliant Prelude Win. Time will tell but to carry only 50.0kgs in the
$3 million Mile at Royal Randwick is a luxury.
ARBEITSAM ran 3rd in the 2018 Doncaster Handicap trained by Gai & Adrian
Whilst
Dynamic Syndications aim for our first Doncaster, having
run third three years ago in the 2018 edition with
ARBEITSAM, our
Lady Trainer GAI is looking to win the feature race for the
eighth time.
YAO DASH lined-up in the
ACY Securities Doncaster Prelude Gr3 1500m off the back of a courageous win at Rosehill at his prior start, in
Benchmark 88 over 1350m where he carried
60.0kgs. Stepping up to stakes grade into this event, this rise in class was offset by a
massive 7.0kgs drop in weight, which saw him carry just
53.0kgs.
On a track that appeared to be favouring on pace horses until race 6, when
Hungry Heart, a daughter of super sire
Frankel dispelled that theory when recording a sweeping win, coming from last on the turn.
Instructions to our rider Craig Williams were specific. He was asked to be positive from the inside draw to hold the fence on pace but if another horse wanted to apply pressure for the lead, then use common sense and take a sit.
As the gates crashed back,
Craig Williams took it upon himself to employ a “take no prisoners” attitude to the ride and committed to creating a fast race tempo which wasn’t part of our plans.
YAO DASH doesn’t need an invitation to that style of racing, as our horse who has been known to be a bit "quirky" in the past, relishes the free running approach.
YAO DASH set up some slick early splits, running the 1400m to the 1200m in 10.95 secs. This quick split ensured no other rider wanted to invest petrol at what would have been near suicidal pace to chase.
YAO DASH had the field spread out early, when he peeled off an 11.10 split from the 1200m to the 1000m.
Having intimidated the other riders off this sizzling pace, rider Craig Williams was then able to settle
YAO DASH into an easy rhythm for our galloper, peeling off four even splits of 11.56, then 11.55, then 11,45 and 11.54.
Having led the field to the turn, the challengers where
off-the-bit chasing as pressure was applied from
Archedemus, the horse that had been sitting second in the run, and
Buffalo River had moved up 3 deep. However, their challengers quickly faded away at the 350m, when
Craig Williams pushed the go button and
YAO DASH put 4 lengths on the field in a blink of an eye with an
awesome turn of foot which ensured nothing was coming out of the pack to give chase.
At the 100m the rider peaked at the inside giant television screen and could see he was in no danger, so with 50m to run, he
just sat on the horse as if he was in his armchair at home, and the
Dynamic Duo cruised over the line under zero pressure, a
massive 3½ lengths ahead of
Mister Sea Wolf with
Bottega a further
half-length back in third
YAO DASH had been sent to the barriers a clear favourite and starting at
$3.90 in this open event, he never let his supporters down, as the
cheers from the grandstand were almost deafening.
Dynamic Syndications boss DEAN WATT shares the excitement of winning our way into the Doncaster
Some of the Winning Owners who were trackside
A very excited group of Owners were delirious as they were
living the dream to have won a
Golden Ticket into the
big dance in seven days’ time.
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Craig Williams returns triumphant aboard YAO DASH after the Gr3 DONCASTER PRELUDE Win
Co-trainer Adrian Bott said: "That was fantastic. He’s really racing with a lot of confidence at the moment and when he does that, we know he's a very capable horse on his day.”
“He'll back up in the Doncaster now providing he comes through it well, that was always the plan. He profiles as a lovely prospect for the race."
“Importantly, he will be there with a nice light weight and I’m so excited for Dynamic Syndications who have been good supporters of us and they have had this plan in place for a while and we’ve been able to execute it for them, so it will be great to see him take his place for them as well.”
Jockey Craig Williams said: “We all saw how the track is playing and we all know his run style.”
“Adrian was quite open with his instructions, he’s a good on-speed horse, he drops 7kg, but if someone goes mad utilise common sense. As it turned out I just had to sit there and trust his ability and stamina. He was very decisive today; he took a lot of running down.”
Dynamic Craig Williams
Having
forecast a win and entry into the
DONCASTER after winning the benchmark 88 on the 13th March, we had only a handful of riders who could ride at the weight. We were
aware Craig Williams would be unable to make the weight and would have to
ride 1kg over at 51.0kgs and we felt that wasn’t smart business to carry an extra 1kg.
Our go to man is Melbourne based jockey MICK DEE who can ride at 50.0kgs.
Adam Watt with Mick Dee after a feature race win at Flemington
Mick has won black-type races for Team Dynamic previously, and in 2018 he rode a top race when we had ARBEITSAM finish a gallant third place to HAPPY CLAPPER and COMIN’ THROUGH. We also had Mick booked for
LOVE TAP during the Spring Carnival should he have gone to Melbourne however the horse went to the spelling paddock instead.
So, we have the greatest confidence in our rider, knowing he is a natural lightweight and will have full physical strength at 50.0kgs in the big race and he is aboard a horse that has
set three peak ratings figures in his past three runs.
Just to be able to
earn the chance to line up in the Doncaster against the
best milers is an honour but
YAO DASH is not there to make up the numbers. Its been precision planning and timing, with support of a lot of people to make it possible for our owners to
live the dream.
YAO DASH as a yearling at the sales when we purchased him
From the day
Adam Watt and our
vet Dr Tim Roberts inspected the
Newhaven Park draft at the
Magic Millions and marked the colt as a potential elite prospect, to buying him through the salering for
$90,000, to the breaking-in and then pre-training of
Shane Rose at Bimbadeen Park, to the skills of the Team at
Tulloch Lodge, to the assistance of
track riders and jockeys who work with us, and to the patience and time afforded to
YAO DASH to develop
physically and mentally.
In particular, we acknowledge and thank our
vet’s Dr Gary Baitz, Dr Tim Roberts and the Team at Centennial Park Vet Practice who have
micro-managed the horse almost daily at
Tulloch Lodge to ensure he is maintained to a gold standard, allowing
Gai and Adrian to work the horse in their renowned
"Bone and Muscle" style to get the best performances from him.
In particular its a
big thanks and congratulations to Gai and Adrian.
Gai was determined when the horse returned from his Magic Millions assignment in January, that she wanted to keep him in work to aim for the Doncaster when a logical progression was for a short freshen-up spell and a trip to Brisbane in the Winter for the Gr1 Stradbroke.
Gai offered Team Dynamic her wisdom, logic and her wealth of experience in the great race but left the final decision to us.
Adam Watt mapped out the program we felt was achievable and we backed Gai and Adrian's judgement to deliver on their belief. We engaged our vets into
daily monitoring the horse where we knew we were walking a tightrope to get in and knew that
prevention of stress or injury was the key to
achieving the goal. As they say,
"the future belongs to those who plan for it."
YAO DASH is now at 13 starts: 5 Wins – 2 Seconds – 0 Thirds – 4 Fourths and $555,275 in prizemoney.
He has won from
1200m – 1500m and on a
Good: 7:3-0-0, on Soft: 5:2-2-0
He has started in
8 races this preparation: 3 Wins, 2 Seconds, 3 Fourths with the furthest he’s finished from the winner is just
2.6 lengths.
Now he is a well-deserved Stakes Winner having also run
4th in the Gr1 Golden Rose in a vintage year to by just
1.5 length to
Bivouac, Yes Yes Yes and Exceedance.
This preparation he finished just
0.6 length from Eleven Eleven in the
$1m Magic Millions Cup RL, and 4th in the
MSS Security Sprint LR. However, he has won 3 races this preparation including the
Magic Millions Rising Star, along with the
Benchmark 88 at Rosehill and now the
Doncaster Prelude and has
banked $389,025.
Dean Watt accepts the trophy from the sponsor ACY Securities for the Doncaster Prelude win
Adam Watt & Dean Watt
Now his grand final awaits!
Congratulations to our top team of Owners that race YAO DASH.
Just imagine the excitement and sleepless nights this week they will have as they live the dream:
Dynamic Syndications Racing, Almighty Racing Pty Ltd, Mr J W Sutherland, Ms L Cotter, Mr S J McGee, Mr G J McMahon, Mr P Bray, Mr J T Storey, Champagne Sundays, Mr K T Gunn, Mr N W Kim, Mr S M Browne
On
Sunday morning, we were
delighted that
YAO DASH had pulled up sensationally well from his easy effort.
Gai and Adrian sent the horse to the beach for a walk in the saltwater and a play in the sand.
When he returned from the beach .....,
he had a special visitor waiting for him!
YAO DASH recorded Dynamic Syndications 703rd Race Win and our 49th Race Win for this 2020-21 Racing Season.