Freeze Frame The Giant Slayer In Sires’ Stakes Final

Gun juvenile Jumal (NZ) (Downbytheseaside) dominated discussions ahead of the Group One Woodlands Stud Sires’ Stakes 2YO C&G Final (1980m) at Addington Raceway on Tuesday, but his flag was lowered by an unlikely source. 

Group One winner Jumal had been unbeaten in his previous six outings and was rated a $1.20 red-hot favourite to continue his winning streak, with the Cran and Chrissie Dalgety-trained Fugitive (NZ) (Downbytheseaside) rated as his biggest danger.

However, it was the latter’s stablehand Freeze Frame that proved to be the giant slayer when fighting out a tight finish to beat Allamericanplayer (NZ) (Bettor’s Delight) by a head, with a further nose back to Jumal in third.

“We expected him to run well, but you have got a $1.20 shot in the field and we were there to pick up the crumbs,” Cran Dalgety said.

There was plenty of early speed in the race, with Jumal forced to do plenty to find the lead of Fugitive, and Dalgety said that told on him as well as his own charge in the concluding stages.

“It was a real warhorse race in the first part of the race which just undid a few and we were lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time,” he said.

“He has just kept on improving. He has fooled us a little bit for the good, he has just got better and better.”

Bred by Woodlands Stud, Freeze Frame is by their champion stallion Bettor’s Delight and out of four-win Artsplace mare First Class Lady, a half-sister to Group One performers Plutonium Lady and Rakero Rebel.

He was offered through Woodlands Stud’s 2024 NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sale draft at Karaka where he was purchased by Kentuckiana Lodge for $120,000.

He has now won three and placed in five of his nine career starts and earned north of $160,000 in prizemoney.