A PLAN COMES TOGETHER FOR CHRIS ANDERSON

By Graham Potter | Saturday, January 13, 2024

It’s a pretty good outcome for connections when they have a horse that has had only one run and has already banked $305 000 in the prize-money earnings.

That’s the pleasing situation for the owners of the Chris Anderson trained Lead Me On, who powered home in decisive fashion to take out the Magic Millions The Debut (a Two-Year-Old Plate for colts and geldings) over 1000m at the Gold Coast on January 13.

“It was a terrific thrill,” said Anderson, “We’ll take that every day of the week.

“This was our plan a long way out. We always identified that the Gold Coast trials would make him eligible for the race so, I guess we wanted to do two things. We wanted to get him away from home and not just see him trail at Doomben or Eagle Farm. We obviously wanted to see him trail at the Gold Coast where we wanted him to race ... to get to see the track, which is obviously of value, particularly for horses making their debut.

“He trialled there and won the trial with Michael Rodd on board, so that ticked a lot of boxes for us.

“It is so pleasing when you have a plan, and you pull it off ... when it all comes together.

“He did it from both ends. He drew the second widest gate. That was a concern it itself, because from the 1000m you are straight into a 180 degree circle. For two-year-olds first time that can be difficult ... it can be difficult for any horse in those sort of circumstances.

“When he ended up starting so well and sitting up outside the leader ... I was standing together with the collective ownership group ... and I can tell you after 400m our confidence grew enormously.

And from there Lead Me On gave his connections no reason to doubt him.

After doing some work early, Lead Me On had to then really knuckle down in the straight to peg back the long-time leader the Hamo ($4.80) ... he hit the front with 100m left to run and then he had to stay strong enough to the line to peg back the faster finishing Heavenly Impact ($5.50) who he ultimately beat home comfortably enough by a 0.80 length margin.

“He has pulled up well. He has eaten up. He was pretty flat after the race, but he is just one of these horses that gives everything he has got. He leaves nothing in the tank. He just tries so hard.

“It is pretty hot and humid in South-East Queensland at the moment, so I would think most of the horses from Saturday would have felt their run to some extent.

“I’ve got to pay tribute to Mick Malone. He is a Bloodstock Agent based in the Hunter Valley. Mick is the one who found the horse and basically put the syndicate together."

Lead Me On is by the first season sire Brutal, who has an interesting race record himself.

The New Zealand bred won his first three career starts ... including two Listed races. He would then go on the run second to Winx in the 2019 edition of the George Ryder ... when beating the third horse home by just under three lengths ... before going on to win the Doncaster under Glen Boss in only his seventh career start.

His fifth and last win (Brutal only raced ten times) came in the Group 2 Premiere Stakes where, amongst others, he beat home Classique Legend.

Lead Me On is owned by Werrett Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Whitby Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Cinco Star Racing.

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