The day after the 5-year-old Bell River-owned mare charged late to claim the G1 The Galaxy and give trainer David Pfieffer his first-ever Group 1 win in front of empty stands at Rosehill on Golden Slipper Day, Ferguson is still trying to get his head around the surreal nature of the farm's third Group 1 winner in four years.
Covid-19 protocols meant Ferguson and his wife Georgie were on the couch at the farm at Glen William giving an almighty cheer as Tim Clark forged I Am Excited through along the inside to claim a narrow victory from Miss Leonidas (I Am Invincible) and Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}).
James, Georgie and Andrew Ferguson (centre)
That racing was able to continue at all was somewhat of a miracle given the historic events of the past week, but that the mare was there to be a part of it, owed a lot to the quick thinking of their then teenage son James a few years back.
"She was entered for the Gold Coast Magic Millions Sale, and during the preparation she got colic. I had just finished a walk-on to Scone and back, which is near enough to 700km. Georgie was away and James, who was barely out of school then, he might have been 19, he rang me and said this filly is bad, we are going to have to take her to Scone," Andrew told TDN AusNZ.
"I had spoken to Angus Adkins, who is the surgeon there and we had teed everything up. I got home around 3pm and unloaded the mare and foal that had been on the walk on and went to load her up. James took one look at me and said 'Dad you can't do this again', and he said, he'd do it.
"James took one look at me and said 'Dad you can't do this again'." - Andrew Ferguson
"I remember it very clearly, because I was absolutely stuffed. I don’t know how many trips I'd done. I was worried that he was only 19 and had to do that trip. But she had the colic surgery that night. If we hadn't have done that, we wouldn't have had her."
James' decision to step up that day, and the manner of which sticks in his father's mind, tells you a lot about the faith the family has in one another as they embark on Bell River's latest chapter, having moved from Wellington to the new farm near Dungog.
The Ferguson's new Bell River property at Dungog
They may have well saved I Am Excited's life, but to Andrew, it seemed very unlikely she would make the racetrack and he was planning her life as an unraced broodmare.
"She spent eight or nine weeks at Yarraman under the care of Harry Mitchell and she looked like death warmed up. She took a long time to recover," he said.
"The plan was never to race her. I was just going to keep her as a broodmare. We had bought her privately off David Reid, who had bred her, and we were just going to keep her to breed with.
"The plan was never to race her. I was just going to keep her as a broodmare." - Andrew Ferguson
"I ran into Angus at a sale about eight or nine months later and he asked me what I'd done with her. He asked if she'd had any colic since and I said no. He said, 'you’re mad, put her into work' and the rest is history.
"She has never shown any effect. Angus told me, that if they don't show anything within the first four to six months, they never show it again and she has never shown anything like that ever again."
Excited to get her to the track
Pfieffer always held a strong opinion of I Am Excited, who is from the family of stakes-winning fillies being a three-quarter sister to Group 3 winner Flippant (Hinchinbrook) and from a half-sister to the dam of Group 1-winning pair Atlantic Jewel (Fastnet Rock) and Commanding Jewel (Commands).
Trainer David Pfieffer
She debuted with a third in a 2-year-old stakes race at Scone before breaking her maiden at Warwick Farm. She would take on the better fillies in her 3-year-old spring, adding two further stakes placings before securing back-to-back stakes wins in the autumn in the Listed Fireball S. and Listed Darby Munro S.
She would return to win the G2 Gilgai S. at Flemington in the spring and then last year claimed the substantial scalp of sprint champion Redzel (Snitzel) in the G2 Victory S. at Eagle Farm.
In terms of Group 1 races, before Saturday she had contested four of them without placing, but the sense was always there from her trainer that she could find the right race.
"To Dave's credit, he picked this race a long way off. I was worried the 1100 metres might be a bit short for her but he always thought they would go quick enough for her," Ferguson said.
"It wasn't really a shock for us. David, ever since we got the barrier draw on Wednesday, and I have spoken to him 20 times since then, he said the horse has never gone better. I just had a funny feeling that was how the race was going to pan out.
"I couldn't believe the price she was, because on a dry track, she probably beats Fasika the start before. She ran the fastest last 600 metres on that day and she did it again yesterday."
"I'm rapt for Dave. It’s his first Group 1. He's a smaller trainer and goes under the radar, but he's a very good horseman."
Breeding future assured
With her residual value having reached a new high, I Am Excited's racetrack future is not yet clear, but there are a few Group 1 options for her to target.
"Dave rang me ten days ago and asked if we should pay up for the TJ Smith and I thought maybe they will be too good. Now we are exempt from the ballot, but I don’t think I'll be parting with $55,000 to take part in the TJ," Ferguson said.
I Am Excited's future career as a broodmare has been secured
"We will probably look at a race like the Sapphire and maybe the Sangster, but I don’t know. She's got her Group 1, and she doesn't have to do much more. She'll be at stud at some point this year, whether we sell her or whether we keep her. I don’t know."
Bell River sold her dam, Lady Beckworth (General Nediym) for $400,000 at the 2016 Inglis Broodmare Sale and she has subsequently produced a colt by Hinchinbrook, named Jonah, who was a $300,000 yearling.
Her most recent foal, an I Am Invincible colt, is catalogued as Lot 10 in the upcoming Inglis Easter Yearling Sale as part of the Newgate draft.
