Fortuna Race Mare DANCARINA scores impressively at Avondale 6th September – her 3rd Career win
Continuing outstanding form for Te Akau Racing Stable and Fortuna Racing, Dancarina (5 m Sebring – Dance for Me, by Commands) richly deserved her victory in the $18,500 Rating 75 1200 metres on 6 September at Avondale. Performing solidly with two seconds and a third, before suffering a cardiac arrhythmia at her previous start, Dancarina bounced back in the best way possible to record her third win for owners in the Fortuna Dancarina Syndicate (Manager: John Galvin). The win provided the Te Akau trainers Mark Walker & Sam Bergerson with their third on the programme, following My Lips Are Sealed (Ace High) and Fon Memories (Eminent), each by emerging young sires, and fresh from a record-breaking 203 wins in 2022/23, the 10 wins inside a week has already propelled the new partnership to 20 winners since 1 August.
Ridden by stable apprentice Niranjan Parmar, claiming 2kgs, who is also reeling in the winners, Dancarina was caught on a limb in the early rush for positions before slotting in fourth and the talented mare quickened appreciably when asked to extend inside the 300m. On Heavy10 footing in the race sponsored by Magness Mighty Steam Train, she scored comfortably by half a length, running the 1200 metres in 1:16.9, and returned $7.20 & $2.80 on the NZ TAB tote.
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Dancarina – Victorious at Avondale 6th Sept 2023 – Niranjan Parmar aboard
“It was a good tough effort after working early in the race and another nice ride from Parmar, who is riding in such good form,” said Mark Walker.“We’ll have to see what the handicapper does with her in the way of rating points, as far as working out a campaign going forward, but in the back of our minds we feel that she’s a mare capable of getting black type. It’s always great to train winners for John Galvin and his Fortuna owners and they’ve been having a good run of late with five individual winners since 1st August, including the first two-year-old winner this season, Bellatrix Star, last Saturday at Wanganui.”
Dancarina is by top-class Australian two-year-old and Golden Slipper (Gr. 1, 1200m) winner Sebring (Danehill), sire of 129 stakes winners, among over 2300 wins, including 18 Group Ones, while dam Dance for Me (Commands) won twice to 1400 metres in Australia, from a good winning family that included third dam, Champion 2YO Filly in NZ, Ballroom Babe (Citidancer).
Fortuna Racing Director John Galvin was on course along with a solid group of Syndicate Members and commented after the race. “It’s been a year since she won last time, but she did have quite a few months off due to fetlock surgery and has been racing in great form but without winning since resuming – she did have the hiccup last time out at Te Rapa where the race day vet said she took a long time to recover after dropping out in the run home. She was absolutely fine on the Monday after she had raced at Te Rapa and it’s very pleasing to see her bounce back today – we had a really good turnout of owners to witness her performance. I did have some reservations about the track conditions and was not overly confident of her handling what was pretty testing ground, but knowing the tactics were to be positive from the gate was going to be helpful and she was either going to handle the ground or not. She did it nicely in the end and Parmar rode her with lovely judgement. Well done to Mark and Sam for producing this Mare in such great order”
DANCARINA with successful jockey Niranjan Parmar and connections celebrate victory
DANCARINA was acquired by David Ellis on behalf of Fortuna at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast January Sale for A$100,000 from the draft of Widden Stud. She is raced by the Fortuna Dancarina Syndicate, an ownership group comprising 60 individuals.
Dancarina was strapped by Zoe Ashworth.