By Isaac Murphy
Made In America had never tasted defeat over the 431 at Ipswich and kept his perfect record in tact exploding out of box one for a five length 25.16 victory in his heat of the Ipswich Auction Series last Friday and trainer Greg Stella thinks the only was is up for the auction buy back.
“Made In America and his sister Inspired Hope were both buy backs from Russell Farrell the owner in the Auction giving us eligibility, Inspired Hope was desperately unlucky from a tough draw, but the series looks a perfect fit for Made in America,” Stella said.
“He had a very limited preparation just the one run for a win at Capalaba and a slip at Ipswich, but I was more than happy with the performance at peak fitness he’s trialled well under his time and another low draw could see him go quicker in Saturday’s semis.”
“It was a race I targeted from a long way out, he missed a run with Capalaba out of action, but the beauty of this series is he can hopefully get three consecutive runs for a chance at some good prize money in restricted grade.”
The dog boasts seven wins from his eight career starts showing great ability for Stella, who’s only issue has been keeping him healthy.
“He started back in last September winning his first three at Ipswich over the 431 with a low of 25.12, I was probably a few starts away from giving him a 520 until his toe flared up,” Stella said.
“After a month off I took him to Capalaba where I like to race a lot of my young dogs and he turned out to be probably the best dog there over that short period, a personal best of 19.53 and a Derby win.”
Made In America is a part of one of the most special litters in recent time, Zambora Brockie and Lilly Sur Seine teaming up to create some freakish pups with Stella reaping the rewards.
“There’s four dogs and two bitches in the litter, the dogs being Made in America with myself, No Easy Beat and Easy Al who are with Rusty Dillon and Stinger Noir who’s with Selena Zammit, while I’ve got one bitch Inspired hope and the Zammit’s have Sequana,” Stella said.
“Russell Farrell who bred them owned the dam Lilly Sur Seine who showed a lot of potential but had an incident before she raced and never actually got to the track but had a very handy brother in Big Easy Red who Rusty (raced) over the staying trips.”
“My owner Donna Darcy knows Russell Farrell well and when she saw the pups advertised, she didn’t hesitate to pick them up for only $2,500 given it was Lilly Sur Seine’s first litter and Zambora Brockie was an unproven sire at the time the price was low, but now looks like a bargain.”
Stella is often sort out by fellow trainers for advice on recovery and injury prevention and he’s had to call on all his knowledge to get the best out of Made In America, who’s battled injury before he even made the track.
“Made in America is the lightest raced of the litter, he’s had a couple of spells with a toe injury that looks like we have right at the moment but if it flares up again, we’ll probably have surgery on it,” he said.
“It’s something he sustained as a pup and has done remarkably well to race through, we do want to eventually get him over the 520 metres, so some time in the near future it would make sense to have the operation for the longevity of his career.”
“Once we know for sure he’s in the clear it will give me the ability to work and race him a bit harder and see just how good he can be.”
Stella teamed up with his owner Donna Darcy to get a bit creative with the distinctive Made In America name, tracing back through the family tree.
“Russell Farrell really takes pride in the line which goes back about three generations,” Stella said.
“It’s actually where the name Made In America came from both the sire and the dam have American heritage and you can see it in the dog he’s a big strong red fawn you see a lot of over there and hopefully a lot more of him over here.”