Joyful Photo by Stuart McCormick
TOP Kiwi trainer Cran Dalgety is no stranger to winning Breeders Crown finals, but this one would be different.
The Canterbury-based Dalgety has trained five Group 1 Breeders Crown final winners and is chasing a sixth with a filly he has never seen at Melton on Saturday night.
That's because he part-owns star three-year-old filly Joyful, along with WA harness administrator Cam Brown, but she is trained by premier Victorians Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin.
"Yeah, this one would be different," Dalgety said.
"I'm used to doing all the hard work behind the scenes, but I've never seen Joyful."
"But it's time. I'm heading across this weekend. I'm happy to take a back seat and give her a cheer."
Joyful boasts ten wins and nine placings from just 26 starts and is already a Group 1 winner in last year's Vicbred 2YO final.
She looked terrific digging deep under pressure to win her Crown semi-final at Melton last Saturday night and, crucially, is drawn better (gate four) than her star stablemate, Major Delight (six), in the $150,000 final.
"She's been a fantastic filly for us, and it's been a fun ride so far," Dalgety said.
It's fascinating how Dalgety became involved in Joyful.
"You could say the stars aligned," he laughed. "She was bred by Alabar (Farms) and out of a mare called Joyfuljoy, a half-sister to a lovely filly I had called Bettor Joy. She won a Crown semi-final and ran fourth in the final."
"Joyful would have gone through the sales, but she had a bout of colic and needed a wee operation, so Brett Coffey from Alabar spoke with Cam (Brown) and myself about leasing her (to race)."
"She showed a bit early, but we were about to give her back to Alabar to breed when Brett suggested giving Emma (Stewart) and Clayton (Tonkin) a go with her, and it's all happened from there."
"She won her first six starts for them, including that Vicbred final, and she ran third in the three-year-old Vicbred a couple of months back."
Joyful has been plagued by bad barriers this season – she's drawn the back row at her past five starts, so snaring gate four is well-deserved and timely on Saturday night.
"She's got some early speed, too. I'm sure she'll run well. She's quick, but she's also tough and just keeps giving," Dalgety said.
Dalgety's first Breeders Crown success came with The Sparks A Flyin in the 2001 3YO Fillies' final, then came Smiling Shard (2YO colts and geldings in 2009), Bit Of A Legend won the 2YO and 3YO finals in 2012 and '13 and then Katy Perry landed the 2YO fillies' final in 2014.
"It's been a while between drinks … I'm due," Dalgety said.
Joyful is part of a huge Stewart and Tonkin assault on Crown finals night.
They won six races on last year's finals night and have cattle to land at least five winners on Saturday.
Timmy Rictor heads their six finalists in the 2YO colts and geldings final; Very Pretty and Draw A Dream should fight out the 2YO fillies'; Oliver Dan and Perfect Class are the two favourites in the 3YO colts and geldings, while Joyful is one five finalists they have in the 3YO fillies.
Star mare Treachery is the class factor and will be the favourite in the final event, the Crown Mares' free-for-all.
