Dalgety eyes confidence building win for Derby hopeful

Freeze Frame’s (Bettor’s Delight) trainer Cran Dalgety doesn’t just want to see his three-year-old win at Addington tonight .

He wants him to win like a good horse.

Dalgety and wife Chrissie take Freeze Frame to the Equine Magic Mobile Pace (8.38pm) and the in-form trainer says he wants Freeze Frame to get “a kill.”

It is a term plenty of trainers use with horses who have been a while between wins or have been racing tougher opposition, denting their confidence.

In Freeze Frame’s case both are true.

He may have won the Sires’ Stakes at Addington on Cup Day last year beating Jumal but Freeze Frame has only won once since and that was in a moderate version of the Champion Stakes at Ashburton in May.

“He has been going good races but without much luck against Jumal,” says Dalgety.

“So we’d love to get him back in the winner’s circle and get his confidence back up.

“He was a good fourth last start and has the draw (barrier 2) this week to be right in it so it looks the ideal race for him to get all pumped up and feeling good.”

The Dalgetys also have Treacherous Dreams in the same race but he will need luck from barrier 7, with some handy horses drawn between the pair.

It is a race in which Team Dunn also hold a strong band with Wishing For U and Scrunch while another NZ Derby contender in Secret Beach faces a second line draw.

He was a strong fifth on his Addington debut finishing alongside Freeze Frame in Jumal’s Flying Stakes win two weeks ago and should be better suited by tonight’s 2600m mobile although he still likely to need to work in the middle or latter stages.

If the pace is on early and he can get around the field at the right time he may outstay many of his southern rivals.

The Dalgetys may have had a real night out winning two of the features at Addington two weeks ago but they have far fewer chances tonight and have had a slight change of plans with stable star Republican Party who is now not heading to the Flying Stakes on Monday.

“We have decided to head to Kaikoura instead,” says Dalgety.

The stable have a good opinion of debut winner Bill Ackman (R5, No. 10), the juvenile who takes on older horses tonight.

“We sent him down south to get a win and some confidence and he got both so we like the horse but he has a tricky draw against the older horses.”

Avalon (R7, No.9) is another juvenile who Dalgety says has had plenty of luck in his career so far, all of it bad.

“Not much has gone right for him but he has ability and without looking at the form of all the others he might be a sneaky chance this week.”

The feature of tonight’s meeting is the $40,000 Macca Lodge Sires’ Stakes Classique Trot for the juvenile fillies and it is going to be the perfect race for one of these fillies as remarkably for a Group 3 they are all maidens.

 

For complete race entries, click here.

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing New Zealand