Spreydon Lodge Sales Graduates winning double at Alexandra Park
It was a winning double for a pair of Spreydon Lodgeʻs Yearling Sales draft graduates at Alexandra Park on Friday night, with the lightly raced Franco Santana and I Got Chills breaking through for stylish maiden wins.
Both are regally bred, with the 3-year-old Franco Santana (pictured as a yearling) a Captaintreacherous gelding out of the 10-win US bred Western Ideal mare San Rafaella; and I Got Chills an Art Major 2-year-old out of Agree With Me, a Bettorʻs Delight granddaughter of Scuse Me.
Franco Santana is the sixth winner out of his dam to date and is a full brother to the smart eight-win Franco Sinatra who is trained by Cran and Chrissie Dalgety and is rapidly closing in on $100,000 in earnings.
Both of Friday nightʻs winners were sought after at the Sales with Franco Santana selling for $75,000 at the 2022 Christchurch Sale and I Got Chills $160,000 at the same Sale a year later.
The pairʻs wins took the total number of winners to come out of Spreydon Lodgeʻs Yearling Sales drafts since NZB Standardbred took over in 2019 to 26.
Those 26 winners (current season 2-year-olds through to 6-year-olds) have won 159 races between them to date and include the likes of the Group 1 winner Franco Indie and the Group 2 winner Sherlock, along with six stakes performers - Franco Jorik, Shan Noble, Fernleigh Cash, Franco Mac, Franco Encore and I Got Chills.
Seven graduates have earned more than $100,000 in stakes, with another four poised to join them with their earnings currently in the $90,000ʻs and all four still racing successfully this season.