Just occasionally in racing all those dear little ducklings assemble in a beautiful straight line. We had just enough rating points to make the field in the $50,000 Listed event, trainers Graham and Michael Eade had our son of St Reims in the form of his life, and Leah Hemi rode him to perfection. However, behind that deceptively simple summary lies a complex narrative.
Bred by our father and son combination, officially known as PD and PD Jeffreys, the son of Danelove mare Balladane did not distinguish himself early in life. He was capable of displays of bad temper and was never Highden Park’s Libby Bleakley’s favourite yearling, We sent him down to Invercargill to be broken in after our attempts to sell him in the paddock proved fruitless; after two people spent some time in hospital during the breaking-in process he entered the Riverton stable of Graham Eade where, at times, he proved to be less than co-operative.
In his first preparation, he got up to the stage of a gentle canter and showed an utter lack of co-ordination and a complete inability to move in a straight line. Several months later we tried again. Before we could assess his improvement he began suffering from cellulitis. More lengthy paddock rest. As a late 4YO he eventually got to the races. Graham warned father and son that we shouldn’t expect too much of him at his first start but that he did have some level of ability. Not for the first time, Graham was right on both counts. LNV’s debut in a maiden 1600 at Winton was memorable only for the distance by which he got beaten but just seven days later he turned a 17-length hiding into a comprehensive 4-length victory over 2147 at Riverton.
Before this victory we had taken long-term associates Vaughan Cronin and Fred Gianone into our racing partnership and it was then decided to widen our ownership base (code for let’s reduce the outgoings). We were joined by the White Flash Syndicate and the Savoy Syndicate. Racing our horse with these enthusiasts has been a lot of fun. Long may it continue.
