Great return to racing by Charge Forward mare
Yay yay yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! was the ecstatic message from Leah Gavranich after yesterday’s sizzling win at Warwick Farm by Charge Forward ‘s 4YO daughter Lady Be Great.
Pictured: Martin King captures the drama of Race 7 at Warwick Farm yesterday as Lady Be Great & Jason Collett (red & black silks) fight off a determined Ain’t She Grand (green & white silks) to win in class record time. (PHOTO: Sportpix)
Leah, best-known as the travelling groom for Paul Messara Racing, is also a part-owner of the Lady be Great, who was purchased by Racenet Bloodstock at the 2010 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale.
Her dam Missing Logic (by Danzig) was imported from Japan in 2002 and her early Australian foals were bred by the Arrowfield/Jungle Pocket partnership, also repsonsible for Australian Horse of the Year Weekend Hussler, Group 1 winner Reaan and more recently, the Group winners Hot Snitzel and Flying Snitzel.
In 2008 Missing Logic was sold in foal to Charge Forward to Queensland breeder David Kirk who subsequently sold the resulting filly from the Wattle Brae Stud draft for $12,000 to Racenet Bloodstock.
Lady Be Great’s long recovery from knee chip surgery has tested the patience of her owners and trainer Jason Coyle, but her undeniable talent has made the wait worthwhile. The mare had not raced since January, but won a trial nicely on 20 November and went into yesterday’s $85,000 1000-metre event as fourth favourite.
Ridden by Jason Collett, Lady Be Great travelled strongly up on the pace before kicking clear after the turn. Both horse and rider then had to summon plenty of grit to withstand the powerful finish of Ain’t She Grand & Blake Shinn, but withstand it they did, by a short half-head in a new class record time of 57.24 seconds, the last 600m in 33.49. Lady Be Great has now won two of her 4 starts and almost $78,000.
Jason Coyle said of the mare afterwards, “She’s got a ton of ability and she was there to be beaten by the horse with the fitness edge but was just too classy. That was an amazing win. Anyone who knows what she’s been through would know that that was an outstanding performance.”
Racenet Bloodstock’s Craig Tompson added, “With most horses you would not have bothered to go on and would have just retired her, but she has so much ability and loves racing so much…I just wish you could see inside their heads at sales for that.”
Charge Forward does make the selection process a little easier for buyers, consistently imparting the zest for racing and the spirit for the fight which characterised his own superlative racing career.
He is enjoying a terrific Australian season in 2012/13 with 29 winners and comfortably holding his place among the top 10 sires of stakeswinners with a tally of four: 2YO colts Direct Charge & Crack A Roadie, and 3YO filles Cavalry Rose & Urban Groove. Charge Forward’s success is all the more remarkable because he still hasn’t reached a century of runners this season, unlike every other Australian-based stallion in that leading group.
There are 19 yearlings by Charge Forward catalogued for the 2013 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, among them 3 fillies and 2 colts in the Arrowfield & Bellerive drafts, here . The Bellerive draft also includes a colt by All American from Nonsensical (by Hussonet), a city-winning half-sister to Lady Be Great.
