We Dared to Win!
Sat 16 Apr 2022
WINNER 28 OF 2022: IF YOU DARE, trained by Charlie and Mark Johnston and ridden by Franny Norton: 'The £65,000 Betway All-Weather Vase Sprint Handicap' over 6f at Lingfield.
A very competitive card and rightly so with such great prize money on offer, but syndicate manager Mike, had a plan to target these races with four of his charges yesterday and was in attendance to greet the owners.
If You Dare broke smartly and Franny guided him across towards the rail and immediately took the lead. Bowling along in front, the field was stretched and plenty were struggling to keep in touch. Coming around the bend Franny asked him to maintain his effort and he was clear in the final furlong, although he faced a strong challenge inside the final furlong, he kept on well to take the win and scoop the £33,500 1st prize.
This was his fourth career win from 13 starts and he has now passed £50,000 of earnings. He is such a likeable colt, only being out of the winners enclosure on one occasion.
"If You Dare holds on." Watch the full race replay here: https://www.attheraces.com/racecard/Lingfield/15-April-2022/1420
We must thank Oli Bell for his kind words on ITV Racing. As If You Dare crossed the line, he said "Middleham Park have been industry leaders in syndicate ownership for many years. They have had some terrific horses and continue to fire in the winners."
Timeform rated it as a career best p100 performance, saying: "Proved better than ever to scoop a good prize in a lower grade than last time, owing plenty to a fine ride from his veteran jockey; dictated, quickened under 2f out, closed down final 100 yds, just held on; he's straightforward and genuine and both qualities will continue to serve him well even if circumstances won't always be so favourable.”
Syndicate manager Mike says: "Well done to his owners on his win. It’s nice when a plan comes together and it was good to land a decent pot with him. It was an excellent ride from Franny who judged things perfectly throughout and he had enough left at the end to fend off the closers. He’s in the new £100k 6f handicap at the extended Guineas meeting and there’s options at Chester for him in early May. Great to end the All Weather seaoson with another winner and in fact it was nearly two winners on the card, when, in the next race, Leap Abroad almost ran a carbon copy of If You Dare's race, only to be caught on the line, taking 2nd place!”
You can see the All Weather Championships Leaderboards here: https://www.awchampionships.co.uk/leaderboards/all-star-leaderboards/
We had 20 winners during the AW season (19th October to 15th April), which would have made us 2nd, to Godolphin, if our runners had been grouped as one syndicate. Its a shame that they are separated, as they all run in the same silks. But, that's a great performance and you can see our full AW stats in our end of month newsletter, as long as you are subscribed. You can do that here, to be emailed your personal copy: Mailing List Sign Up.