It was mission complete when Kentuckiana Lodge pacer Franco Sinatra powered to victory at Addington on Friday night.
The Cran and Chrissie Dalgety trained three-year-old ran a very smart 3.09.6 for 2600m on a cold winter’s night.
The win signed off an incredibly successful opening campaign from Franco Sinatra which included five wins from just eight starts.
After rushing through the grades and showing himself to be well above average, the pacer has now earnt a shot at the big time.
“He will head to the paddock for six weeks now and we will have our sights set on the big three-year-old races when he returns,” Cran said.
“He obviously couldn’t have done much more than he did this time in and he’s going to the paddock on a great note.”
“With what he’s shown this time in, he deserves a shot at the good three-year-olds.”
“We chucked him in the deep end into a Sires Stakes heat in just his fourth start and ran respectably.”
“But the big thing with him is he has just kept getting better and better.”
“If that same heat was next week, he would be many lengths closer to the topliners and hopefully he’d be giving him a big fright.”
“It is exciting to think that he is just finishing his first racing prep and most likely he’s going to come back bigger and stronger.”
Franco Sinatra was purchased by Kentuckiana Lodge at the National Yearling Sales.
The pacer is raced by Brendan and Nigel Fahy, Rex Knowler, Dougal Steel and Steve and Raewyn James.
Franco Sinatra showed plenty of early talent when he got to Kentuckiana Lodge but he was patiently managed through his two-year-old year.
That management certainly looks to be paying dividends for his owners now.
“He had it all as far as a yearling goes, he’s by a gun sire and his dam side is really outstanding family,” Cran said.
“We really liked him from the start, but as a two-year-old it was in his benefit to bring him in and put him back out several times.”
“It allowed him to progress both mentally and physically.”
“Being a sales horse, you do like to see them at the races as two-year-olds in most cases, but his owners were very patient and it is great to see that patience pay off.”
“He’s developed into a powerful boy and he has shown he’s got speed and stamina.”
“Hopefully his versatility is a big asset when he gets to the big races.”
Races like the Group One New Zealand Derby, Group One Flying Stakes and the Listed Sires Stakes Sophomore Classic await Franco Sinatra when he returns to racing in the spring.
