| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 2000
 |
John Hay had a bit to talk about at Addington on Tuesday. Prior to the NRM Sires' Stakes Final he had a quick chat to Franco Heir's owner Bob Proberts; just past the finish line he turned to acknowledge Tony Herlihy and Young Rufus alongside him, and returning to the birdcage he looked skywards and said a few silent words.
So just what did he have to say? "Bob came down to the stall before the race, asking me how Franco Heir would go. I said that he felt as good as Franco Enforce did the day he won the Sires' Stakes Final, and that Franco Heir was a better stayer," Hay reiterated. "I told Tony how much of a thrill it was to win the race - but only after we had crossed the line ahead of him. And then to Wayne I said 'that's for you'." On the track, Franco Heir had done all the talking for him.
Settling second last from his wide draw, the Holmes Hanover gelding was asked to move as the field wheeled around the Showgrounds bend, and he zoomed up to join pacemaker City Rogue who had done a power of work to get there. "I was waiting for Tony to go on Young Rufus; I thought he was the one to beat," Hay said. "He ended up following us around, then I think he got a bit held up when Niobium shifted into the three-wide line. I wanted to get up to the death seat with 800 metres to go, that was the plan; they had gone really hard early too, which played into my blokes hands. I honestly wasn't happy with him up until about six days ago. After arriving from Australiahe had got a cold and had a nasal discharge, but since that trial at Rangiora last week he has improved out of sight. His coat had picked up, everything had picked up; he worked unreal at the weekend. But it was hard to know how much work to put into him after he came back from Australia and he's still a big dummy so he should improve yet."
For Franco Heir's Australian owner, simply having a horse like him is a dream come true. Proberts first learnt about the 3-year-old from a newspaper article after his first-up win at Ashburton. He asked his trainer Noel Alexander to make inquiries, who in turn rang the horses connections in New Zealand, but the original message they got back was that Franco Heir was not for sale. "I remember thinking...'a kiwi horse that is not for sale? It must be a good one'," Proberts said. "I was hell bent on getting him after that. I have been to yearling sales in Sydney, Victoria and New Zealand and bought 12 horses in the past year; I wanted a good one, but suddenly I didn't want to wait. We started at a lot lower price than what he eventually sold for, but I can acknowledge now that he was a cheap horse," Proberts said.
Franco Heir is raced by the Dalcom Corporation Ltd, a finance and investment company that Proberts is the Managing Director. The 54-year-old and his "better half" Di own a 130 acre horse farm in a town called Coldstream in the Yarra Valley, and just up the road is another 100 acre property that is in the process of becoming their first vineyard.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 16Nov00
YEAR: 2002
 |
| The Happy Valley Synd & Todd Mitchell |
The history of the Canterbury Draught NZ Cup took a twist of its own with a double quinella at Addington.
Who would have suspected that Tuapeka Knight, once a brilliant juvenile, would sire not only the winner but the second horse too. And by a strange coincidence both horses are prepared by the same trainers.
The winner, with a devastating sprint, was Gracious Knight, driven by 'The Wizard', Todd Mitchell. He overpowered his stablemate Facta Non Verba, who appeared to have done enough to win the race when he slipped clear by more than two lenghts on the corner.
He had set the pace from the 2000m, battling into the teeth of a cold southerly. Meantime, Gracious Knight was hiding with cover at the back. Mitchell was gambling on one killer-blow at the end, hoping there would be little resistance when Gracious Knight produced his dynamic last furlong burst. There was clear evidence that Mitchell still had a handful of horse near the 500m, and he knew Facta Non Verba would have his work cut out after what he had done.
"It was a bit tight at the start when Young Rufus broke, but we got through alright," said Mitchell. "I was in two minds whether to come out when Anthony went up with Young Rufus, and I was a bit lucky later when Franco Heir was pushed out down the back. He still paced a bit funny in patches, and was even a bit hitchy round the last bend." he said.
Mitchell praised the dedication and ability of Warren Rich, a young man of only 29 who trains the horse in partnership with Mike Berger. "It's great for Warren," said Mitchell. "He set him for this. He never says anything much, but after he worked on Saturday he told me he was spot on. And the last four hundred metres of a race is always the best for him." he said.
Mitchell has a wonderful knack of being associated with great horses who win big races, notably the NZ Cup three years ago with Homin Hosed - who nearly won it again for him last year - more recently Superstars winner, Just An Excuse, and Easter Cups with Facta Non Verba and Gracious Knight.
Facta Non Verba, who won the Easter Cup as a five year old, failed to win a race in a light NZ campaign at six and returned to win all three races at Addington last season, gave a generous showing in front. His beginning was sharp enough to have him third behind Pocket Me and Stars And Stripes after 400m, and then he was taken up by Robbie Holmes to lead from the 2000m. Ken Barron took Stars And Stripes to sit parked at the 1600m. He got cover soon after from Yulestar, but general movement after that forced him into a situation of near hopelessness by the time they turned in. He ran fifth, two places behind Holmes D G, who made a big run forward with Young Rufus, and Shorty's Girl, who ran a cheeky race and finished with will over the last 250m.
While the result was a rare siring quinella in the race, it was not the first but maybe the second. In 1928, the brothers Peter Bingen and Great Bingen, by Nelson Bingen from Berthabell, ran first and second, with half a length between them. They were not trained by the same trainer.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HR Weekly