Father Patrick filly smashes Australian Record in Breeders Crown Final

The Emma Stewart trained Father Patrick filly Just A Bit Touchy was an utterly dominant winner of the Group 1 Breeders Crown Final for 2-year-old Trotting Fillies at Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday evening.

Last, and 45 metres off the leader, at the bell, Just A Bit Touchy cruised forward three wide with cover at the start of the final lap before powering to the lead approaching the home turn and drawing clear to score an emphatic three length win over Aldebaran Vera and Tough Love.

Her mile rate of 1:59.3 for the 2,240m trip was a new Australian record for a 2-year-old trotter, lowering the previous record, jointly held by the dual Derby winner Kyvalley Hotspur and the Vicbred winner Dont Care, by 0.6 of a second.

Bred by Rhiannon Park’s Dean and Blanche Poole, Just A Bit Touchy is out of the Skyvalley mare Gypsy Flair, a half-sister to the Group 1 winning trio of A Touch Of Flair, Son Of Flair and Mighty Maori, as well as the Group 3 winner and sire of star juvenile Wobelee, Down Under Muscles.

Not only is her dam Gypsy Flair richly related, she is proving to be a sensational broodmare, with Just A Bit Touchy her second Group 1 winner from just two foals of racing age, with the mare having also left last year’s Australian 2YO Trotting Filly of the Year and Vicbred Final winner Banglez. 

It was the second year in a row that the Breeders Crown Final for 2-year-old trotting fillies was taken out by a daughter of Father Patrick, with Sangreal defeating fellow Father Patrick filly Evas Image in 2020.

Father Patrick also sired the runner up in the 3-year-old Trotting Fillies Crown Final on Saturday with Keayang Xena only caught by the race favourite Queen Elida late in the piece.