Big syndicate ready to right rocky Group 1 fortunes

A Group 1 curse could break at Melton tonight and if it does expect a mighty roar to engulf the race track’s lawns.

The first of the night’s Vicbred Super Series finals – the Aldebaran Park two-year-old trotting fillies showdown – may also produce its biggest thrill when the big and close-knit group of owner/breeders cheer on favourite Rockinwithattitude.

“All of the owners are very proud of her,” said syndicate manager Michelle Arnott. “They all bred her. How do you get a horse like that? We’ve got one of the best trotting fillies in Australia – how do you get that?”

In this case, hard work, dedication and, above all, loyalty is how.

The syndicate’s path to this point came via Rockinwithattitude’s mother, mare Rockin Shiraz, who they bought through the Raceapacer syndication, which united trots lovers.

Like Rockinwithattitude, she raced for David Miles and brought success, but was found wanting when it mattered most in her Vicbred Super Series finals, which produced 12^th and eighth placings.

“She had four wins for us and we loved her to pieces,” Arnott said. “But she seemed to stuff up the Group 1s.”

And so it more than tweaked at their hearts when Rockinwithattitude’s two Group 1 moments to date were met with misfortune when triumph looked possible.

First there was the Redwood Classic, when eventual winner Cognati shifted at the final turn and impeded Rockinwithattitude’s challenge, and then the Breeders Crown, when the filly was forced to fight in an extraordinary 42.9-second lead time to hold the front, which would see her naturally tire and run a bold second to Susan Is Her Name.

“Let’s not talk about the Group 1s, just depressing me,” Arnott said.

But a curse? Not according to Miles, who says Rockinwithattitude is built differently.

“I’d always thought because she was so much like her mother, who made Group 1s but was so much below the best, that she would make them but not be a true contender,” Miles said.

“But then she trialed against open class horses and would have run her last mile in sub two minutes and just did it easy. Her Redwood run was good and her Aldebaran Park (The Graeme Lang) Mile was really easy. She has taken that next step.”

Now she just needs to convert it into ultimate success and gets her chance with a gate four draw in tonight’s final at 5.29pm.

“Like the Breeders Crown, on paper it looks a perfect race for her, but they don’t race on paper, they race on the track,” Miles said. “There’s always something that can poke its head up. Just hope there’s no bad luck.

“She thrives on racing. She’s really well. She’s had a light prep, that’s how she likes it.”

One certainty is that Arnott and her big group of trots friends will be with her for every stride.

“I’ve been in the game for 45 years,” she said. “This is the first horse I’ve had like this. I’m very excited. I’ll be coming home from Halls Gap for the big one.

“I’m a bit nervous because the last two haven’t gone to plan for various reasons, but she’s got the draw, I think she will lead and can outrun anything from the front. She’s just amazing.”