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<div dir="auto">WE are heartbroken and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Fiona Ralph who was a much loved member of our tight-knit stable&nbsp;&nbsp;<img class="xz74otr x168nmei x13lgxp2 x5pf9jr xo71vjh" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tba/1/16/1f54a.png" alt="🕊️" height="16" /> </div>
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<div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a">
<div dir="auto">Fiona arrived to work with an infectious smile each morning and loved nothing more than spending time with the horses she so dearly loved. </div>
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<div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a">
<div dir="auto">Our deepest sympathies go out to Fiona&rsquo;s family at this difficult time and we know our horses will have an angel watching them from above&nbsp;&nbsp;<img class="xz74otr x168nmei x13lgxp2 x5pf9jr xo71vjh" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t6c/1/16/1f499.png" alt="💙" height="16" />&nbsp;<img class="xz74otr x168nmei x13lgxp2 x5pf9jr xo71vjh" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tfd/1/16/1f9e1.png" alt="🧡" height="16" /></div>
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Fiona Ralph: Forever remembered

Toby Lake

Courtesy of Racing.com TOBY Lake battled a common conundrum faced by many young trainers when he was shopping at his first-ever yearling sale last year at Inglis Premier. The 27-year-old was taking the plunge into the lottery which is the yearling market and wondered, in his first year of training, just how many horses he could afford to 'spec' and on-sell to owners. With a dwindling shortlist and limited budget, he had to let slide a Nicconi filly out of Pinker Pinker Plate winner No Excuses Bec who he had taken a liking to, when vendors asked for a $50,000 reserve. To Lake's surprise, he received a phone call six weeks later from Ian Gilcrist at Fulmen Park, asking if he was still interested in buying the filly at a reduced price. "'Gilly' rang me to say the owner of the horse had passed away and if I was still interested in buying her, the family wanted to sell down the stock," he recalls. "She was all of a sudden affordable, but I'd purchased two yearlings at that sale already and didn't know if I could fill another but thankfully Roll the Dice (Racing) backed me in and we've got a great group of owners involved. "Gilly has stayed in as well which is fantastic - he was my first boss when I moved to Melbourne and worked for Ciaron Maher." Having finished second in the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Rush last year with $15,000 buy Linkvue, Lake soon identified that he could have another contender for his rich local juvenile race. "Pretty much since I bought her I've had this race in mind, so you could say it's been a target race and she's prepped up well," he explained. "She's been a filly we've liked the whole way through and she's showed she's an early going type and has been really straightforward. "They (Scusies and Linkvue) are similar types of horses, both forward types, I'd say this filly has a little bit more potential to train on and looks as though whatever she does now she will improve on at three." Scusies, marked an $8.50 chance with Sportsbet, has drawn barrier three and will be ridden by Jye McNeil after a series of quiet jumpouts. "She was a little bit keen going early on, so you will see in her trials we've restrained her even after beginning well and made sure she has switched off early and finishing off," Lake said. "I think 1100 metres will be perfect, she might have found the 1000 metres a little bit sharp. "We've been lucky enough to give her a few gallops on the course proper out of the chute, so that's been a big advantage for us." Lake also trains the highly promising Fieldelo, who defeated the smart Sweethearted at her only race start back in November on Kilmore Cup Day. She has resumed training and is being aimed at the Creswick Sprint Series over winter. Lake joins fellow local trainers Brent Stanley, Rod Symons and Les Robertson with runners on Golden Mile Raceday.

Sale disappointment to Golden glory?

KATHY&rsquo;S Rose deservedly dropped her maiden tag at Swan Hill on Sunday bringing up the stables 10th winner as she drew away for a comprehensive two-length win over 975-metres. A campaign which had consisted of three consecutive placings and an unlucky fourth, four-kilo claiming apprentice Sam Kennedy bought up the second winner of her short riding career after positioning the horse midfield and utilising plenty of clear galloping room on the spacious track. Swan Hill has been the stables most successful track with three winners and two placings from eight starters. The daughter of Turffontein is the third foal from the dual winner Kathy&rsquo;s Spirit and has now banked $27,895 in her eight starts to date. She continues to take good improvement with each run and with the confidence of Sunday&rsquo;s win should enhance her confidence no end. Stablemate Dandruff finished third on the day at Swan Hill. From limited runners in recent months, the last 20 runners the stable has saddled not only have resulted in three winners but had ten placegetters and a further four top five placings. While we continue to educate our young horses and aim a number of horses for softer tracks across winter, we have also been active at the recent Melbourne Premier Yearling Sales. <a href="https://www.lakeracing.com.au/ownership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">We added a standout The Autumn Sun filly and bombproof Nicconi filly and further details can be found here.</a> <a href="https://www.racing.com/form/2025-03-16/swan-hill/race/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Click here to view race replay</a> Congratulations to the connections of Kathy&rsquo;s Rose: M Whorlow

Rose blooms at Swan Hill

STAR Diesel has hit the winners board in just his second run for the stable after registering his first Victorian win at Kyneton on Thursday. The son of Star Turn hadn&rsquo;t saluted in almost 12 months to the day but followed up a good first run for the team at Seymour to score, aided by a first-class ride from Rhys McLeod. &ldquo;He had a rating that we thought this time of year in Victoria we could place him well to win some races,&rdquo; Toby Lake said of the new acquisition. &ldquo;I thought the blinkers had sharpened him up at home and it looked that way he was in for the fight late. &ldquo;Maybe we could sneak down to Moonee Valley one Friday night and find a suitable race for him.&rdquo; The four-year-old boasts solid provincial form in New South Wales and looks like he can be further placed to advantage throughout the Victorian summer. The stables last 10 runners have included two victories and three placings with only one horse missing the weigh in stalls. <a href="https://www.racing.com/form/2024-12-12/bet365-park-kyneton/race/6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Click here to view the race replay</a> Congratulasitons to the connectiobs of Star Diesel: D Willis, C Guerra, J Williams, S Moore, A Lamshed, B Jennings, A Lewis, D Holland, S Sewell, G Banis, Dr M Zacharia, R Priestley, P Tonkin, T Nation, D Smith, A Hill, B Bayot, SBR No.1, A Gold, M Schiavello

Diesel shows his engine

FIELDELO appears to have a bright future after the daughter of Deep Field broke her maiden on debut at Kilmore on Cup Day last Sunday. Ridden by Jye McNeil over 1100 metres and sent off race favourite after some smart jump outs, she was in for the fight late and held off a determined challenge from Sweethearted, with the third placegetter some 4.5-lengths astern. &ldquo;She was travelling that comfortable I got to the front too soon and she had a look around and pricked the ears and once challenged she obviously had a little bit left in the locker,&rdquo; McNeil said. &ldquo;With the right education moving forward to finish off the product I think she will develop into a nice horse.&rdquo; Fieldelo has continued to improve the longer she has been in training and is a testament to her owners patience, headed by Mark Schiavello who has thankfully entrusted her with us. The filly will now enjoy a break and come back with further room to improve in 2025 with eyes on city and stakes class races. &ldquo;She has impressed me the whole way through,&rdquo; Lake said. &ldquo;She will go to the paddock, she has done a fantastic job this time in and we will give her a month out.&rdquo; Fieldelo, who was passed in at the Melbourne Premier Sale and is the first foal from a five-time Lope de Vega winning mare, is a testament to our systems educating young horses at Bendigo and we hope our first yearling crop can also follow in her footsteps. It started a good few days for the stable as stablemate Eire to the Jungle was an unlucky second at Ararat last Tuesday and is knocking on the door for a maiden win. <a href="https://www.racing.com/form/2024-11-24/bet365-park-kilmore/race/1#/results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Click here to view race replay</a> Congratulations to the connections of Fieldelo:&nbsp;M A Schiavello

Fieldelo off to a flyer

DANDRUFF has once again showed his liking for the Swan Hill circuit with his second dominant win at the track in as many starts on Tuesday.
Having won by 4.75-lengths back in April over the 2400 metres, ironically the margin was the same with a well rated ride from Dakotah Keane.
&ldquo;It was a good training effort, they were confident and he was fit,&rdquo; she said.
&ldquo;He maintains and doesn&rsquo;t quicken, once I kicked on the corner you&rsquo;d think I&rsquo;d gone too early&hellip; but he&rsquo;s got a lot of upside.
&ldquo;I felt like if he got challenged he would have pinned his ears back and kept kicking.&rdquo;
The six-year-old son of Written Tycoon, who had to overcome two sinus operations before he ever raced, could now be set on a path towards Jericho Cup Day on December 1.
<a href="https://www.racing.com/form/2024-10-29/swan-hill/race/6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Click here to view the replay</a>
Congratulations to the connections of Dandruff: Smart Racing Stables &amp; Jacob Rule

Swan Hill suits Dandruff just fine

THE last 12 months have flown by and our stable has recently completed our first racing season! This year we&rsquo;ve worked really hard behind the scenes to set our business up for the future and worked diligently to focus on yearlings to achieve sustained racetrack success. I am pleased to say almost six months on and our yearlings are now two-year-olds and are all developing as I&rsquo;d hoped and coping well with the transition that comes with becoming a racehorse. Therefore, I am excited to show off in our two minute video below our final THREE remaining horses with shares available in them, to give you an insight on my&nbsp; thoughts on each of their prospects after riding them in their early education. There is a sprinter by boom new kid on the block sire Blue Point, stayer by the exciting G1 star Russian Camelot and an early runner by Niconni, so a horse to suit all budgets to check out! More details and pedigrees can be found via <a href="https://www.lakeracing.com.au/ownership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lakeracing.com.au/ownership</a> 
WATCH: Toby's introduces 2024 yearlings 
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/994986317" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

WATCH: 2 mins to highlight our 2yo's

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Online store launched with FanFave

Courtesy of Racing and Sports 
THE&nbsp;Showdown, Saturday's feature event the Owners and Breeders Raceday at Caulfield, is not a race Steven Marsden and his family have had circled on the calendar for a long time. Not because they didn't dream of the winning the $1 million event with bargain buy Linkvue, they just didn't expect the Toby Lake-trained gelding to be ready for it. But that all changed in the lead-up to the VOBIS Gold Rush at Bendigo on April 13. "We were thinking (this campaign) he was going to have a trial or two and go back out to grow, because he's got a bit of upside with his growing, but Toby said, 'you've got to run this horse at Bendigo'," Marsden said. "He'd had a couple of soft trials, which was always the plan, but then he said, 'you better go to the races, because he's just going so well'." Linkvue justified Lake's call with a second placing in the $250,000 Gold Rush, beaten only by one-time Blue Diamond favourite Bold Bastille. It has Marsden, his brother Alan and father Lyle wondering what they might be able to achieve with the son of Overshare who was bought for just $15,000 out of the Showcase Session at last year's Inglis Premier Yearling Sale. Steven and Alan teamed up two years ago to unearth some sales gems with Steven, a farrier, stockman and former trainer who once prepared Norman Robinson Stakes runner-up and Victoria Derby runner Skilero, in charge of inspections and Alan ticking off the bloodlines. Linkvue, who is out of the Bernardini mare Linkville, was one that Steven thought had scope to develop beyond the small yearling that might have deterred other potential buyers. "I just purely go on type, because they've all got good bloodlines somewhere, but we want to try and buy and athlete, or something that can turn into an athlete," Marsden said. Linkvue was broken in by Bruce O'Dell and then took up residence Trevenson Park, where he was in and out of work before heading to Lake. The gelding has his young trainer excited and Marsden has been buoyed by the reports since his debut. "Obviously there's the very good horse in the race, Bold Bastille, and I mentioned to them, and that there was probably some other good ones coming through, but he said they'll all have to be on their A-game to beat him," Marsden said. Victory would be satisfying beyond the big payday it would bring with Linkvue's jockey Jamie Mott to sport the family colours, which were carried by now-87-year-old Lyle's horses for decades and are still seen on horses trained by another son, Bryan. "Alan really wanted to get him in those colours because they're the family colours," Marsden said. "Dad's been a bit unwell and he likes to go to the races, but he doesn't go very often. But he's hoping to come on Saturday."

Linking up for shot at $1m Showdown

A trip over the New South Wales border paid off on Monday when The Cast Off made it two wins from four starts and the second triumph in a week for Lake Racing. As well as Dandruff&rsquo;s victory at Swan Hill last Tuesday, it was also a big thrill for the stable on Saturday to have Linkvue finish second on debut in the $250k Vobis Gold Rush at Bendigo. The Cast Off had the blinkers reapplied for the first time since her debut win at Hanging Rock and swept home from last at Albury to run over the top of her older rivals over 2000 metres. &ldquo;They went really quick early, I was a bit worried early I was obviously a long way off them but she worked into it really nicely,&rdquo; jockey Laura Lafferty said. &ldquo;She needed every bit of that 2000 metres so she&rsquo;ll be cherry ripe for her next start and she just keeps progressing every time she steps onto the racetrack.&rdquo; That next start for The Cast Off is set to be in the $200,000 Listed VRC St Ledger (2800m) at Flemington on Anzac Day. The $3250 online purchase by Pariah has now banked $25,625 in just four starts for her connections. It&rsquo;s shaping up as a big few weeks upcoming for the stable with Linkvue now set to tackle the $1 million Showdown at Caulfield on April 27. <a href="https://racing.racingnsw.com.au/InteractiveForm/Meeting.aspx?meetcode=ODg3MTY5ODcwNA%3d%3d#Race1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Click here to watch the replay</a> Congratulations to the connections of The Cast Off:&nbsp;A McTaggart, K McTaggart, One More Please, S Barlow, S Featherstone, K McTaggart and A Byrne

Fiona Ralph: Forever remembered

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