Dynamic galloper LUNAR SPIN 6yo Brown Gelding (by HARD SPUN (USA) ex MOON GAME (USA)) has a very loyal band of Owners and his team of fanatics who refer to themselves as the “lunatics” went ballistic when as much as $51 was on offer with some of the corporates prior to the start of race 6 Newcastle on Saturday, the WAMBO COAL CG&E BENCHMARK 64 HANDICAP 1300m.
That price didn’t last long as the horse was supported back into $26 before the field jumped away and those “lunatics” that supported their horse LUNAR SPIN were shouting loudly as the horses thundered down the straight.
LUNAR SPIN ridden by jet pilot Josh Adams was given the gun run and the horse responded with gusto to hit the lead and record a widening 0.57 length margin over the favourite Jack’s Bar with Florever Special another 0.59 lengths away in third.
Credit for the win goes to excellent young horseman Ben Smith who trains for Dynamic Syndications at Newcastle.
Josh Adams gets his instructions from trainer Ben Smith
Ben has only had Lunar Spin for now 2 runs after we decided to change trainers because the horse had failed to flatter with his previous provincial conditioner.
First up for Ben, Lunar Spin proved a handful for his rider as the horse was ungenerous in his racing manners, getting a long way back in the run, still he worked home nicely to be beaten just over 3 lengths in race record time. The horse was so naughty in that run, the Stewards placed a warning on him.
Ben worked with his track riders in an attempt to discover what was going on between the "horse’s ears" and after consultation, they elected to put a shadow roll on him in trackwork to make Lunar Spin get his head down and concentrate.
Lunar Spin returns after winning
This resulted in an immediate change in behaviour and the horse settled and worked well. The next time the team did fast work with Lunar Spin in the shadow roll, he flew and the Ben Smith stables were delighted with the improvement.
The horse has always shown trackwork ability but was not concentrating on raceday, in essence he was promising the world but delivered an atlas.
We had nominated LUNAR SPIN for this event at Newcastle and an event on the Monday at Quirindi however we thought the tight turning track at Quirindi may not suit as much as the long run home at Newcastle, so elected to race on Saturday and we are now very happy with our decision.
Drawing well in barrier 4, a pearl of a ride in the first furlong by Josh Adams with 60.5kgs, allowing Lunar Spin to settle in the one out, one back spot in transit. The horse settled into his rhythm with the shadow roll on and Lunar Spin was as quite as a lamb and an easy ride.
As the field swung into the home straight, Josh Adams eased Lunar Spin 3 deep around the heels of the horse he was following and the gelding extended. At the 200m he was eyeballing the leaders. As Josh Adams got to work urging Lunar Spin to dig deep, the gelding responded and went to the lead getting in front of the favourite and extending away from the rest of the chasing pack. Such was the extent of the power being displayed, under the top weight of 60.5kgs Josh was able to be kind over the final 25 metres and Lunar Spin went to the line under his own steam.
There was shouts and cheers from the owners as Lunar Spin finally displayed the form that we always knew he had within him but was not displaying.
Josh Adams returns LUNAR SPIN a winner
That’s the art of a trainer and the team he works with. It’s not only getting a horse into race condition but watching the body language of each horse and working with his team to try different gear on those horses that have a few tricks in them, to see what the horse will respond too best.
In this case, it was a masterstroke to put on a shadow roll and also he was paraded in ear muffs to keep him calm.
The horse was presented to the races in magnificent order and the team at Dynamic were proud of the way the horse was presented and then raced.
LUNAR SPIN recorded Dynamic Syndications 546th Race Win and already our 4th Winner for the new 2018/19 Racing Season.
Since transferring horses into Ben Smith’s Racing Stables, together we have started:
20 Runners: 6 Wins, 3 seconds, 4 thirds and 2 fourths. That equals:
30% Winners : Runners
65% Placed: Runners and
75% Prizemoney Earners : Runners.
Congratulations to our Top Dynamic Team of “Lunatics” that race LUNAR SPIN
Dynamic Syndications Racing, Ms S Suthosa, Mr I Veivers, Mr T M Veivers, Est S Bellear, Mr M B E Moore, Mr B M Crismale, Matrix Racing, Mrs D Holland, Mr W S J Holland, Mr D J Ash, Mr J A Baldacchino, Allam Racing
Dynamic Trainer Ben Smith
Also special mention to Ben Smith Racing who had a back to back double on Saturday when Lunar Spin won race 6 at a starting price of $26 and then in race 7 Kanavu won also at a starting price of $26. That’s odds for the double of $676/1 – well done if you had it !