Nick Olive has been the benchmark in the Canberra training ranks for the last five years and he lifted the bar again with a record-breaking double on Friday.
Mixed Up Mess had held the Canberra 1080 metre track record of 61.69s since August 2009 but that was bettered not once, but twice, by Olive’s stablemates Rose Of Falvelon and Akoonah.
Rose Of Falvelon (Falvelon) smashed that time clocking 61.10s in Race 6 before Akoonah (Ready’s Image) came out and also broke the old mark clocking 61.65s in Race 7.
“Everything is going really well at the moment,” Olive said. “And both those fillies are very promising prospects.
“I was going to start Rose Of Falvelon at Randwick next Monday but she drew poorly so I decided to stay at home and take the easier option. She was dying to get to the races and it showed. She jumped straight to the front and was always travelling like a winner.”
Olive also has a high opinion of Akoonah who kept her unbeaten record intact in the Affinity Construction Management Hcp. The Ready’s Image filly had won on debut at Queanbeyan last month and was just as impressive with an on-pace victory in Class 1 company.
“She is a quality filly and I might take her to town,” Oliver said on Friday evening. “I will see how she pulls up and talk to the owners before making a decision whether we keep going or tip her out.”
Akoonah (2f Ready’s Image – Cathead by Catbird) is raced by the Robertson and White families. “Simon Robertson has been a good client for years and Greg White bred the filly,” Olive explained. “She could really rev up when she first came in from the breakers but is more relaxed now.
“And I like the way she goes about her work – she’s got a beautiful action.”
Greg White is a son of Geoff and Beryl White and operates Scone based Invermein Stud with his wife Jodie. They retained Akoonah when she failed to make a $25,000 reserve at the 2012 Inglis Classic yearling sale.
Lincoln Farm freshman Ready’s Image sired her from a half-sister to Caulfield stakes winner Touch Of Mahogany (Last Tycoon) and Hong Kong G3 winner Lifeline Express (Marscay).
Ready’s Image (USA) shuttles from Walmac Farm in Kentucky to the Hunter Valley and he has been represented by 17 individual winners to date in both hemispheres. He sired a winning double in the USA last Saturday when Sara Bay and Broadway Hat bolted in by a combined 9 lengths.
Lincoln Farm owner Nick Posa will stand Ready’s Image (More Than Ready) and Arlington (Red Ransom) for $5,500 (inc gst) service fees this year.
– Karl Patterson