A holiday tour of Rob Britton’s Lara kennels and pre-prepared DVD paid dividends for New Zealander Alison Lee after her chaser Clone Your Own took out the $145,000 Harrison-Dawson at Sandown Park tonight.
Clone Your Own ($5.10) overcame a tardy start from box 1 but enjoyed a saloon run through the first turn. He then charged between leaders Premier Event ($5.70) and Imry Bale ($4.50) to lead down the back straight, and in a thrilling run to the line, Clone Your Own held off a gallant Imry Bale by a head, with favourite Glen Gallon ($3.10) a further 1.75 lengths adrift in third.
An ecstatic Lee, who made the trip from her Christchurch home to be track side for the final, was near speechless after taking out one of the club’s premier races.
“I can’t believe it, it’s just amazing,” she said.
It had been a whirlwind ride for the connections of the 30 month old son of Irish sire Droopys Marco, who had his last start in New Zealand over 295m in March.
“We went on a holiday to Australia and wanted to see a few kennels,” said Lee, who considers herself a hobby trainer.
“One of the young guys who used to work for Jeff Britton (Rob’s brother) said they were really nice people so we went and had a look at Rob’s property. We liked what we saw and left a DVD (of Clone Your Own’s races) with him and said if you think he’s good enough send us an email.”
Clone Your Own had been racing over the ‘shorts’ in New Zealand, and despite some reservations, had shown Britton enough to book his flight to Australia.
“I knew he had blistering pace but he was last out, and if you’re last out over here then what hope have you got?” said Britton.
“But he looked like he was getting stronger with each start, and you always know you’re a chance with a dog when they can run one sectional that is out of the ordinary because at some stage they’ll put themself in the race. And his second split is extraordinary.”
His improvement once arriving in Australia was remarkable, winning three of his five Australian starts before heading into tonight’s final. It’s improvement that Britton did not expect.
“I never really expected a Group performer. That said, his last run before the heats was exceptional, and I was hoping he could draw a good box.”
For Lee, the win was the thrill of a lifetime, and is hopeful of further wins on the ‘mainland.’
“When we sent him over we thought he’s got a chance, and Rob has done a great job. He’ll be staying with Rob for as long as he wants him, then he’ll be coming home to me.”
