They said he was unlucky not to make it; they said he deserved to be a wildcard and the experts hollered he should just have been in the ‘Big One’ – the Inter Dominion.
And former Kiwi pacer Franco Ledger proved all those ‘armchair experts’ were right, when he blew his rivals away in yesterday’s Bohemia Crystal Free-For-All at Tabcorp Park Menangle.
The Geoff Webster-trained and driven son of Falcon Seelster strolled away from a quality field, rating 1:55.4 for the 2400 metres to beat outsider Lochinver and Bit Of A Legend.
It completed a great day for Webster, who prepared the TAB.COM.AU Inter Dominion runner-up Flaming Flutter, beaten by the mighty Beautide earlier in the afternoon.
While Webster handed the drive behind Flaming Flutter to Greg Sugars, he was happy to pilot Franco Ledger.
Settled towards the tail of the field, Franco Ledger took off three-wide with 800 metres to travel as Webster slowly made his way towards the head of the field.
Turning for home the stallion darted clear to register an impressive victory.
Webster paid tribute to part-owner Hamish Hunter who sent him a “ready-made” racehorse from the South Island of New Zealand.
“He’s just a terrific little horse and to win a race like this with the prestige attached to it is a real thrill,” Webster said.
“I have to thank my staff, especially ‘Skinny’; who brought both my horses up here and has looked after them all week.
“They’ve all done a great job.”
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HRNSW Media