Lord Fandango will make his Australian debut at Ballarat on Wednesday.
OTI and its partners race Lord Fandango with Anglo Australian Racing (AAR). AAR is a UK-based syndicate that has a mission to buy UK yearlings, with the view to racing them in Australia. It was formed by BHRA Board Member Eamonn Wilmott and former South Australian trainer, Jeremy Gask.
Lord Fandango was purchased as a yearling in 2014 and represents AAR’s first ever purchase. With several ex-pat Aussies involved they were keen to keep an interest as he continued his career in Australia.
OTI jumped at the opportunity to acquire a share in this lightly-raced, well-performed stayer. In August 2016, he showed his talent with consecutive wins over 2400M at Cheptsow and Epsom – the most recent by an impressive 4.5L. Watch Lord Fandango’s Epsom win (raced as Fandango in the UK):
OTI and AAR have continued to strengthen the relationship. Condamine, another exciting prospect, recently landed on Australian shores under OTI / AAR ownership. Condamine is by the powerful Danehill sire, Duke Of Marmalade out of a Montjeu mare. The 4YO has placed twice in strong form races from four starts.
Lord Fandango is trained by the in-form Archie Alexander at in idyllic surrounds at Ballarat. The long, uphill training track provides the perfect training ground for these UK stayers and Alexander is reaping the benefits with an imposing 29% strike rate in 2017.
On Wednesday at Ballarat, Lord Fandango will step out over a mile, a distance seen as short of his best. He has done nothing but please Alexander leading into the race and should be hitting the line strongly with a view to improving second and third up.
