Progressive mare I Am Me leads them a merry dance in Missile Stakes
Season’s stakes-race opener goes the way of Dynamic Syndications’ colour bearer in an all-the-way triumph
A slight drop back in grade yesterday saw I Am Me (I Am Invincible) land her maiden Group-race success as she dominated the Missile Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Rosehill, the opening stakes contest of the season in Sydney.
Having opened her stakes account in the Canterbury Sprint (Listed, 1200m) on New Year’s Day, the now four-year-old mare then went on to run seventh, beaten two lengths, in the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) on February 25, her first attempt at Group 1 level.
Taking in two soft trial wins at Warwick Farm and Rosehill last month, yesterday’s Group 2 assignment proved to be the perfect fit for I Am Me as she continued on her upward curve.
Ridden by Tim Clark, the Ciaron Maher and Dave Eustace-trained daughter of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) was sent off the $2.40 favourite to make a winning return and jumped well from barrier one to lead in the first 100 metres.
Controlling the pace throughout, I Am Me looked to be going best turning the home bend and, after being asked for full effort by Clark, bounded clear of her eight rivals in the straight to defeat fellow stakes winner Dragonstone (Mikki Isle) by a length and three-quarters with a further length and a quarter back to Deepour (Exosphere) in third.
“She got a bit of control through the middle stages and with that weight on her back being a mare of that quality, she was always going to be hard to run down,” Clark said.
“I was just able to do enough [to hold the lead] without firing her up and once we got on the circle she came back and got control.
“Once she got control, she was always going to be hard to beat.”
However, the race was marred after Group 1 placegetter Big Parade (Deep Field) sustained a fatal injury. Racing outside of the eventual winner, Big Parade suffered the injury shortly after entering the straight with his rider Josh Parr doing well to remain in the saddle.
The incident also forced Godolphin contender Golden Mile (Astern) out of the race, with the Group 1-winning entire waiting on a gap between the leaders when the incident took place.
“He was travelling well, I’ve never been so close to coming down and not coming down,” Golden Mile’s jockey James McDonald, who was lucky not to hit the deck, said post-race.
Big Parade was attended by vets on the track and later euthanased, with early indications suggesting he suffered a shoulder injury.
In winning yesterday’s Group 2 contest, I Am Me (5 m I Am Invincible – Mefnooda by Medaglia D’Oro) adds her name to a roll of honour that includes former Darley stallions Commands (Danehill) and Lonhro (Octagonal), All Aged Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) hero Pierata (Pierro) and Joe Pride’s multiple elite-level scorer Eduardo (Host).
A $210,000 purchase from the Segenhoe draft for owners Dynamic Syndications and Dean Watt Bloodstock at the 2020 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, I Am Me was bred by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.
She is the first winner out of the metro-winning Medaglia D’Oro (El Prado) mare Mefnooda, herself a half-sister by Group 3-winning filly One Last Dance (Encosta De Lago) with the pair both being out of the Group 3-winning mare One World (Danehill).
Mefnooda was bought by Cambridge Stud at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $450,000 and was covered by Darley shuttler Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) last spring after missing the year before.
I Am Me is the first stakes winner of the new season for Yarraman Park’s reigning champion sire I Am Invincible, who is fully booked at a fee of $302,500 (inc GST).
It’sourtime leaves it late for O’Brien in Aurie’s Star Handicap
Track knowledge proved invaluable for It’sourtime (Time For War) yesterday as he produced a late swooping effort to take home Flemington’s Aurie’s Star Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m).
A formidable record of two wins, including the Straight Six Stakes (Listed, 1200m), and a further five placings from ten previous outings at the Victorian-based track saw the Danny O’Brien-trained six-year-old sent off the $3.90 favourite to double his stakes tally.
Previous placings in the Santa Ana Lane Sprint Final (Listed, 1200m) over course and distance, and the Bletchingly Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Caulfield, proved that the admirably consistent son of Time For War (Snitzel) was arriving into yesterday’s event in top form.
Reunited with jockey Michael Dee, who was on board for his Straight Six victory on May 13, the gelding sat towards the rear of the ten-runner field having made a slightly sluggish start from barrier eight.
Finding themselves in last place with just 300 metres left to run, Dee galvanised his mount under a strong drive and the pair sprouted wings for an over-the-top success, defeating Umgawa (Shamus Award) by a long-neck with the same distance further back to the third-placed Chassis (Al Maher).
“He was last at the 250-metre mark and had to hook out wide on the track, which is perhaps not the A1 spot to be, but he let down with a solid turn of foot,” O’Brien said.
“Credit to the whole team, particularly at Barwon Heads, where he lives. He has been in work a long time but seems to be improving.”
Dee, who admitted that It’sourtime ‘didn’t quite jump as cleanly as I would’ve liked’, felt that his mount had won a little handily at the line.
“I got a little bit further back today than I would have liked,” Dee told Racing.com. “The horse has been going extremely well this preparation and is ultra consistent.
“I’ve got to put that down to Danny O’Brien and his team, they’ve done an amazing job with this horse to keep him at this level and going so well.
“I had to work to get him to the outside but he was pretty soft at the line.”
As for It’sourtime’s next target, O’Brien revealed that the Show County Quality (Gr 3, 1200m) at Randwick in a fortnight’s time would now be aim.
“We are looking to go to Sydney for the Show County, which is a similar style of race, a 1200-metre Group 3 handicap,” O’Brien said.
“We will see how he handles the right-handed as there are a lot of options in Sydney in the spring for sprinters.
“He is tremendously honest and rarely misses the top three, so we will keep giving him the opportunities.”
It’sourtime (6 g Time For War – Zedoble by Zeditave) was passed in short of his $100,000 reserve when consigned by Widden Stud to the 2019 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
The fourth winner from six to race out of the unraced Zeditave (The Judge) mare Zedoble, who died in 2019, he is a half-brother to the stakes-placed winner Zahspeed (Speed ‘n’ Power).
It’sourtime is one of five stakes scorers for Snitzel’s (Redoute’s Choice) dual Group 2 winner Time For War, who covered two books at Kitchwin Hills, leaving 122 foals before his death in 2016.