DADDYWHO has given his Kyneton trainer Greg Leight plenty of fond memories over the years.
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The nine-year-old pacing gelding provided another such highlight at Echuca last Sunday, when he notched up his 11th career win.
It was a bit of a drought-breaking performance, with the son of Illawong Precocity and Kaysu winning for the time since July last year.
The gap in between wins tallied 22 starts.
But Leight, who experienced the high of a Group 1 win in 2003 with Dalmont Jo, never doubted the drought would be anything but broken.
"Every time he comes in he can usually win a race or two every prep, but he's sort of getting on a bit," he said.
"He battles a little bit, but when he gets the right run he can make his presence felt.
"We put a claimer on him to get a front-row draw and we thought if he could get into the race we knew he'd go really well."
Such is the Leight brothers' (Greg and Steve) affection for Daddywho, they consider him part of their family.
"He's been around since he was a foal - and now he's a rising 10-year-old," he said.
The gelding has been driven in all but two of his 129 starts by Steve, but in search of victory, the brothers were only too happy to relinquish the reins to talented young reinsman Jayden Barker at Echuca.
They could not have been happier with their plan - and more importantly - the execution.
"He works for David Miles and there's no doubt he gets plenty of good experience over there," Leight said.
"We were very pleased with him. He had to sum up what to do and he did that to a tee.
"(Daddywho) needed that claim. He's been that type of horse who as soon as he drops back a class he wins one. But when they brought this new system in, he was running these places and going up in the class all the time.
"He was never going to win one always going up in class. But putting that claim on was the difference."
With Law Legend now racing up in Sydney, Arrested retired after sustaining an injury in the Hamilton Trotters Cup and Your Nicked still 'a month or two away from racing', Daddywho remains the Leights' main focus for now.
Greg insists he's only too happy for some extra attention to go the gelding's way.
"He's been a nice little horse - we've had him a long while. He's a pet around here," he said.
"We've had a couple of offers to sell him at different times, but we've been determined to keep him.
"He's kept going. He's pretty tough and he's sound ... no hassles."
Leight said he was keeping an eye firmly fixed on the harness racing calendar, with Your Nicked earmarked as a staple on the country cups circuit, should those races go ahead later this year and early next year.
"He's pretty handy and I'm sure he's up to that class," he said.
"He was matching it with the better horses. He won at Melton last season and he raced well against some real good trotters.
"Hopefully, he just improves that bit more. He can certainly go with them."
Read more: Leights dedicate win to Eric Scoble
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