Jones thankful for second opportunity with quality mare
Matt Markham - Raceform • June 6th, 2025 5:00 PM • 4 min read
But the irony isn’t lost on the Burnham horseman that he deemed her not good enough to remain in his stable as a young horse, only to have her return to his care as one of the more promising up-and-coming female pacers in the country.
“I sacked her early on and then Bob Butt did the same, so it just shows what kind of judges we are,” Jones told RaceForm this week.
For all intents and purposes, Francent is a Westport mare. Bred and initially raced by the Higgins family, up until her last start she’d done all of her racing out of the barn of Robert Higgins at the famed Patterson Park Raceway on the West Coast.
There were extended stays at Overport Lodge, which is run by Jones, to restrict the amount of travel, but with a busy schedule ahead the call was made to make Burnham her official new home last month.
“We’re pretty lucky to get her back to train given what happened early in her career, but she’s really furnished into a promising mare.
“She’s very typical of Bob Higgins’ breed in that they just get better with time and they’ve done a wonderful job in her development.”
In her first run for her new trainer, the daughter of Vincent continued the brilliant start to her career by notching up her fifth win at just start 12 at Winton, pushing her earnings to close to $50,000 in the process with plenty more in store for the coming months.
“I thought she was very good down at Winton, but when you looked at all her sectionals at Addington in her starts before that, it’s probably no surprise, because she’d been smashing the clock from bad draws and tough runs.”
Given she’s made the trip over the main divide a few times now, the trip from Canterbury to Southland and back took nothing out of the four-year-old and she’s thrived in training ahead of stepping out at Addington this Friday night.
The win down south gave her entry into the $30,000 Southland Silk Road Mares Final on June 12, while this week’s assignment can create a pathway into the Canterbury final, which is two weeks later and worth $34,000
“It’s a great series for the mares. She’s well for this week, and all going well, we will get through it and head down south next week for the final there before turning the attention back up to Canterbury. It creates some opportunities for horses like her and gives us something to target.
“You’d like to think, with the times she’s been running, she’ll be competitive again this week.”
Jones will have another in-form mare in Tact Teena chasing a spot in the same Canterbury final this week. The daughter of Tact Lizzie has been a model of consistency recently, and more of the same is expected.
“She’s going great at the moment and really starting to develop into a handy wee mare. She’ll need a bit of luck this week, as there’s a couple of good ones in there.”
Alongside Francent, the field is headed up by two other in-form pacing mares in Akatea, who has been brilliant winning her last two starts, and last week’s impressive winner Esmarelda.
