Have No Fear claims 3YO Group 1 trotting feature

The Anthony Butt and Sonya Smith trained Father Patrick gelding Have No Fear was a dominant winner of the $60,000 Group 1 Alan Mance Need For Speed Prince Final (1720m) at Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday evening.

Showing blazing gate speed, Have No Fear took charge of the race from the outset, and despite being taken on by the race favourite Kyvalley Hotspur for the last half, the son of Father Patrick easily shook off the challenge from his more fancied rival in the home straight to win by an ever widening margin of 9.4m, with a massive 30m back to the third-placed runner.

The exciting 3-year-old square-gaiter has now won five of his nine starts and banked $54,230 in stakes earnings.

Bred by Canterbury’s Michelle Baird, Have No Fear is out of the six-win Sundon mare Without Fear, a full sister to the 2007 NZ 2YO Trotting Filly of the Year Fear Factor (dam of the 2018 NSW Trotting Derby winner Stress Factor).

Have No Fear is the second Group 1 winner to emerge from Father Patrick’s first Southern Hemisphere bred crop with the Maree Caldow trained filly Sangreal the other after taking out the Breeders Crown 2YO Trotting Fillies Final back at the end of November.

That initial foal crop also includes the Australian Group 1 runners-up Evas Image and Keayang Zena, and the New Zealand based NZB Standardbred Harness Millions place-getter Son Of Patrick.