MOREE galloper Dandy Kat could have been sending out a message to connections as he led rivals over the line in Saturday’s 1600m Wean Picnic Race Club Cup.
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It was the nine-year-old’s 13th career win but his first ever success on the picnic circuit.
In all previous wins, Dandy Kat had “bowled along at his own pace” to win from behind, according to part-owner Doug Fernando.
But in beating Crown Madica by a neck and Make Me Some by a further three lengths on Saturday, Dandy Kat indicated that he wanted to go right from the jump.
“We told Rebeka (jockey Rebeka Prest) to jump and let him roll along to find his own pace,” Doug Fernando said.
“But he surprised us all.
“He was right up on the pace from the start.
“Rebeka said he just wanted to race, and was pulling hard.”
Dandy Kat likes the 1600m though.
Back in November he won three on the trot, two of those over 1600m.
“We gave him a spell after those,” Fernando said.
“He resumed with fourth in the Binnaway Cup which we were very happy with.
“Then he finished midfield in the three Golden Triangle races (feature 1400m picnic cups at Moree, Mallawa and Talmoi).
“We knew he was a better horse than that.”
Dandy Kat is trained at Moree by Martin Fernando for son Doug Fernando and partner Samantha Russell but he was “too crook” so didn’t make it to Wean, sending the gelding’s owners instead.
But due to no mobile service at Wean, Martin didn’t find out until Saturday night that his horse had won, and given him his second Wean Cup victory.
“All credit for the win goes to Doug and Sam,” Martin Fernando said.
“They’ve done a lot of work with him.
“Doug’s my right hand man – stablehand and foreman.
“He’s just in the process of getting his own trainer’s licence so will take over this fellow and a few more of mine.
“It was a nice win.
“I said as they left that I reckoned he’d go pretty close, as long as Rebeka could have him right up there about the 400m.
“I think he might have a couple more wins for us on the trot.”
But while Martin Fernando said the victory was “nice”, he considers his “best ever winning feat in racing” was the victory of Crowntreno in an earlier Wean Cup.
“He won 14 races for me, but the Wean Cup was his best.
“He was only a class two galloper at the time.”
