Dalgetys get three

Cran and Chrissie Dalgety and their son Carter won three races at Ashburton yesterday with three very good horses. 

The royally bred Cherish Me (Downbytheseaside) got the Kentuckiana Lodge run started in the fourth race, beating Zarini by three and a half lengths and running the 1700 metres in 2-00.3 – a mile rate of 1-53.8. 

“She’s a filly we’ve had to wait on for quite a while. We broke her in as a yearling and she had a paddock accident. After a lot of good work by the vets we saved her life. Because of the life she’s had, we’ve never really pressed her and we’ve taken things really slow. Last week at Rangiora she was very good and yesterday she went up two or three levels rather than just one,” driver Carter Dalgety said.  

He said he expects the daughter of Adore Me to be better in the second part of the season. 

“She’s still not really tractable at the moment and can get a little bit keen, so she still has a bit of ringcraft to learn.” 

CHERISH ME REPLAY

Freeze Frame (Sweet Lou) returned to winning form in the Three Year Old Champion Stakes. 

He hasn’t had a lot of luck in his three year old campaign but yesterday he was taken forward by Carter and beat a late charging Franco Lennon by one and a half lengths. 

“He’ s never had a hard run this prep. He’s been dropping back and running home. I thought that race was a race to have a crack in and it was good to see that the class is still there. He felt awesome. It’s a shame we have to perhaps give him a break now.” 

FREEZE FRAME REPLAY

Franco Sinatra (Captaintreacherous) broke a New Zealand record when he won the Free for All for the Dalgetys. 

In a tight finish he beat outsider The Big Lebowski by three quarters of a length with Iron Brigade half a length back in third. 

The winning time of 1-57.1 for the 1700 metres – a mile rate of 1-50.8, was a new New Zealand record. The previous record of 1-58.1 was jointly held by Mossdale Conner (2015) and Got The Chocolates (2024). 

“He’s just a gem of a horse who’s a pleasure to drive and never puts in a bad one. To burn hard, lead up and do all the work and to hold off such a good field in 1-50 was incredible.”

FRANCO SINATRA REPLAY

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink