Today's win from Dame Dietrich was reward for a lot of people. She is owned by the estate of the late Bill MacKinnon and leased by the Juanita Syndicate, Garry Dickeson, Rob Price and Dan himself. There was an initial delay in Dame Dietrich getting to races to begin with, as Bill passed away before he got around to signing the lease papers so everyone was very patient whilst the legalities were sorted. Then she developed a bad habit going into the barriers which saw her scratched in her second start and sent for a spell. On her return to training Dan and his team have spent endless hours and obtained quite a few bruises from this big filly getting her barrier manners under control. Still she has shown above average ability from the very beginning and after her very impressive first-up run this preparation she was soon in a lot of people's "back next start" book. Dan was confident she would appreciate the longer trip this time and she was given a terrific ride from Dean Yendall, who did a great job to dodge through the field after getting boxed in at a crucial stage.
The Juanita Syndicate who is named after Dan's Aunt Marie (Sister Juanita) consists of ten family members including his father, brothers, sisters, uncle and cousins. They will be very pleased that the taunting from other family members may subside for a little while! Garry Dickeson is another faithful, patient owner who had great success with Life's a Bounty but since has had a luckless run with Tribalism and Honest harry. And Rob Price is Dan's father-in-law so it's always nice to be in his good books!
