Goulburn preview: Trainer Danielle Seib saddles up two runners with a unique backstory and ready to add their own chapter

Trainer Danielle Seib saddles up two runners at home track, each of them with a family member who was abducted at the height of their fame, and ready to add to their story.

Downtown's Abbey looks a good chance on her home track. Picture: Bradley Photos

Nine-time Highway winning trainer Danielle Seib would be wise to keep a good eye on her stable pair Xcessive Force and Downtown’s Abbey.

Their relatives have a habit of disappearing.

Downtown’s Abbey is from a family owned by the Aga Khan’s for almost a century.

Her fourth dam is a daughter of the English and Irish Derby winner Shergar who was stolen from the Aga Khan’s stud in 1983 with a ransom demand of two million pounds.

Despite a worldwide search undertaken, no trace of Shergar was found.

Gladly, there was a happier ending for Xcessive Force’s fourth dam, Fanfreluche.

The Canadian Horse of the Year (1970) was abducted from Claiborne Farm in 1977 while in foal to Secretariat no less.

Downtown’s Abbey is a descendant of 1981 English Derby winner Shergar.

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Five months later, the FBI found the mare, unharmed, 250km from where she was taken.

She was returned to Claiborne Stud and incredibly delivered her foal which was appropriately named Safe And Sound.

It could turn out that Xcessive Force is already a steal, given her ratio of talent to outlay.

A $90,000 Seib Racing Magic Millions Yearling purchase, Xcessive Force’s reputation has grown from one trial to the next ahead of her debut on the Abernathy Maiden Plate (1200m).

“She is a very nice filly,” Seib said.

“We do have an opinion her but she is very green and raw as you would have seen in that last barrier trial at Canberra.”

Not that Seib wasn’t rightfully impressed with her Rosehill hitout a few weeks prior.

“She was cast on a wide path there and to run the sectionals that she did when she was three and four deep the trip, and then kept coming on the last 100m the best, it was a really nice trial against some nice opposition.

A thriller in the Cootamundra opener with Downtown's Abbey getting the head down to beat Besson! @SeibRacingpic.twitter.com/EzXwUPuVFq

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 6, 2024

“The filly that ran second in that trial, Vanessi, won at Canterbury the other day.

“Xcessive Force is a work in progress,” Seib said.

“She is quite large and scopey. She would be every bit of 16.3 hands.”

Xcessive Force trials like a miler which is in keeping with her heritage.

She is from the first crop of Doncaster Handicap winner Brutal, himself a son of the Levin Bayer Classic (1600m) winner, O’Reilly.

Downtown’s Abbey, meanwhile, looks tuned up for a win in the suitable Radio Goulburn Handicap (1600m).

“She is a model of consistency and a very tough mare,” her trainer said.

“She has always run really well at her home track and she’s drawn nicely to sit handy to the speed which suits her.”

TRACK SPECIALIST BACIO DEL MIST READY TO STRIKE

Trainer Lee Curtis knows every blade of grass growing at Canterbury so it is no wonder that his Rosehill stable is home to a renowned ‘track speclaist’ in Bacio Del Mist.

Curtis was one of the last on-course trainers to leave Canterbury in the 1990s when it became the base for an exponentially growing number of equine internationals.

Fast forward to present and Curtis is happily ensconced at Rosehill along with wife and training partner, Cherie.

The Curtis’s, and their young ‘old grey mare’ Bacio De Mist, will make the familiar trip across town for an eighth time in search of a fourth win for the Gerry Harvey-bred seven-year-old.

“I don’t know why she loves Canterbury. She just does,” Cherie Curtis said.

“We had her nominated for Randwick (on Saturday) as well and most trainers will pretty much opt for the Saturday option but she just has such a good record at Canterbury.”

Bacio Del Mist fights like a tiger for her win!

Jay Ford lifting the mare for @CurtisRacing. pic.twitter.com/S6ajO2pvMn

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) September 21, 2022

Bacio Del Mist is unplaced in all six first-up runs, a sequence she maintained when beating one home on an unfriendly Kensington track over 1400m two weeks ago, sent out as the $41 outsider of the small field.

“We were really happy,” Curtis said. “Jason (Collett) actually thought he had run third. And he said after the post, she was just so strong. He said you probably couldn’t see it live, but she was just so full of running.

“She’ll only improve off that. We toyed with the idea of running her over 1900m but it is probably just a tad too soon.

“We’ll run over 1550m first and like I said, she was so strong through the line last start and she will be again on Friday night.”

While Curtis could lay claim to being Bacio Del Mist’s number-one fan, she has competition from one of Sydney’s star apprentices, Molly Bourke, whose record on the grey is one win and one second from her only two rides.

“Molly knows her well, she loves her,” Curtis said.

“Molly is a delightful character. She actually found us after Bacio raced when Jason rode her and she was like’ the grey mare went so good!”

Bourke’s growing legion of fans will no doubt help shorten her price in the Canterbury TAB Jockeys Challenge.

Bourke has a full dance card at Canterbury’s famous pre-Christmas meeting aboard the likes Vetwelve, Spandex, Nambi Ghima, Master Riley, Siovy Dane, Munitions and Decimus.