Son of Always B Miki smashes NZ record in Sires Stakes Heat

26 October 2021
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Franco Indie underscored his favouritism for the Group 1 Sires Stakes Final on NZ Cup Day with a dominant performance in the Sires Stakes Heat at Ashburton on Monday afternoon – setting a new national age group record for 1700m in the process.

The son of Always B Miki made light work of his outside draw, sitting at the back of the field before unleashing with 600m to go and powering out to a three length win in a time of 1:58.2, with the mile rate a stunning 1:51.9.

His time sliced 1.5 seconds off Alta Maestro’s 2017 New Zealand record for a 2-year-old pacer over 1700m, while his mile rate also equalled Ashley Locaz’s national record for the 1609m distance.

Franco Indie has now won four of his five starts and $46,250 in stakes.

Bred by Spreydon Lodge, Franco Indie is out of the Christian Cullen mare Idancedwithcullen, an unraced daughter of the Group 2 winning juvenile Idancedallnight.