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A Unique Miss
April 2007 | TURF MONTHLY Page 96
NEWMARKET HANDICAP 1200M Hcp CAULFIELD 10 March, 2007
1ST MISS ANDRETTI 5yo bm OWNER/S P S Buckley, D B Mueller and Ms G Guenzi TRAINER Lee Freedman JOCKEY Craig Newitt 2ND GOLD EDITION 3yo gr f Lion Hunter-Glimmers (Success Express) OWNER/S K E O�Brien & Mrs T O�Brien TRAINER Ron Maund JOCKEY Damien Oliver 3RD UNDUE 5yo b g Commands-Influence (Bletchingly) OWNER/S D Waters, S Macdermott, TRAINER Shane Clarke JOCKEY Stephen Arnold |
Horse of the Year voting should be interesting this year.
The two standout candidates to the end of March were the five year old mare Miss Andretti and the three year old filly Miss Finland.
Both camps have plenty to draw upon in making the case for their particular star.
You see, both have achieved in 2006-207 unique feats � winning a sequence of races that had never been achieved before.
Miss Finland�s cause is helped by her winning last year�s Golden Slipper, because every time she wins another big race she becomes �the first Slipper winner to also win (insert race name here �.�.
With regards to Miss Andretti on the other hand, she basically started from scratch this season.
A winner up to Group 2 level in Western Australia, the daughter of Ihtiram won her first eastern states race when she convincingly took out the Straight Six (LR) at Flemington last May.
From that moment on, she has just got better and better and better!
Her nine starts for the Lee Freedman stable have netted seven wins, which include a unique set of four Group 1 wins.
Both races she has tasted defeat in for Freedman were at Group 1 level and very few gallopers have the capacity to race with such consistency at the highest level.
In carrying 56kg to win the Newmarket Handicap, last month, Miss Andretti equalled the feat of Special (1988), who lumped the same impost.
Special is also a member of the elite VRC Lightning Stakes-Newmarket Handicap double club, a group that welcomed an 11th member this year with Miss Andretti.
It is a group with considerable clout; Takeover Target, Isca, General Nediym, Schillaci, Shaftesbury Avenue, Placid Ark, Maybe Mahal, Cap D�Antibes and Black Onyx are the others.
However, not one of the other 10 can also lay claim to having won the MVRC Australia Stakes (G1) during the same autumn.
Miss Andretti has that combined trio to herself and when you add in the Manikato Stakes last September, the records looks even more menacing.
Especially when you add in another factor. Miss Andretti is making a habit of breaking track records.
The Moonee Valley 1200m fell to her in the Manikato: the MV 1000m benchmark was toppled in the Lightning and the Caulfield 1200m course records which had stood for more that a decade, was obliterated when the mare stuck her neck out for Craig Newitt in the Newmarket.
Nailing gallant filly Gold Edition on the line, Miss Andretti stopped the clock in a blistering 1:7.74 � smashing the previous 1:8.1, held jointly by Hurricane Sky and You Remember.
So she carries weight, wins a sequence of races that has never before been done and runs fast time on every occasion.
Now there�s a sprint champ worth crowing about.
Lee Freedman was moved to utter her in the same sentence as the mighty Makybe Diva, for her sheer ability to perform at a peak level every time she steps out.
The next chapter of course is to be written in June, when the mare heads to Royal Ascot, trying to follow in the footsteps of Choisir and Takeover Target.
Miss Andretti�s days of racing in Australia may be numbered, but this season, particularly during the autumn, she gave us a reason to cheer.
So often the big sprints are dominated by a three year old colt, out to make a quick buck and set himself up for an even more lucrative stud career.
This season the colts were put in the shade.
Brushed aside by a mare who has just got better with age.
