Son of Father Patrick takes out the Swedish Trotting Derby
The Daniel Redén trained Father Patrick 4-year-old Francesco Zet continues to sweep all before him in Sweden, proving too good for his rivals in the Swedish Trotting Derby at Jägersro yesterday.
For much of the race Francesco Zet bided his time three back on the outside, while the unbeaten Lulius Boko set the pace up front.
With 700m to go, reinsman Örjan Kihlström set the son of Father Patrick alight, with the pair soon going stride for stride with Lulius Boko, and despite a heart-stopping near gallop rounding the final turn, Kihlström was able to balance him up and Francesco Zet stormed home to win by two lengths in a slick 1:55.8 mile rate for the 2,640m trip.
It was the stallion’s 11th consecutive win and his 15th from 17 lifetime starts, taking his earnings to 13,875,000 Swedish Krona.
The win also saw him complete the Swedish 4YO Trotting Triple Crown, with the horse having also won the King Gustav V’s Cup and the Sprint Masters Final earlier this year.
Bred by Redén’s Stall Zet, Francesco Zet is the first foal out of the US bred Credit Winner mare Shaqline.
Father Patrick enjoyed a good weekend of results worldwide with his 2-year-old son Once In A Lifetime taking out the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes Final in track record time at Harrah’s Philadelphia in the US, whilst in Australia his Group 1 winning daughter Egret just missed adding another to her record, finishing second by a half head in the Need For Speed Princess Final at Tabcorp Park Melton.
And in New Zealand, the first two runners home in the Gavin Douglas 2YO Trot at Ashburton, were both debutants by Father Patrick, with the Bob Butt trained Gold Bullion showing a good turn of foot to defeat the regally bred filly The Ivy League.