Francent heading in only one direction to chase Group One success
Matt Markham - Raceform • February 12th, 2026 10:57 AM • 4 min read
Mark Jones is giving his stable driver Samantha Ottley the green light to chase Group One glory in the most logical fashion with talented pacing mare Francent this week.
And, simply put, that means just one thing – Francent is going forward in the $100,000 Gr.1 Fahey Fence Hire New Zealand Breeders’ Stakes at Addington on Friday night, and the intention is to lead.
Already a Group One winner in the north, the Westport mare has a prime opportunity to grab one in the south too and all the signs Jones has seen at home in the past week suggest they’re right where they need to be.
“She’s really well, I’m very happy with her,” he told RaceForm. “Her work earlier this week was as good as it could be and we’re ready to run a race this week, I think.”
To the eye, her fresh-up performance two weeks ago in the Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes might have seemed a little underwhelming, but Jones was far from disappointed in the effort.
“When you break it down, she’s gone about as good as she could, really. We were hamstrung by the preferential barrier draw and she had to work three wide for a long time and covered more ground than anything else in the race.
“She only really came to the end of it 100 metres out from the finish, so we were pretty happy with her run and she’s definitely improved off it, which we knew she would.”
Likely to come into barrier three after emergencies are withdrawn, Francent should be able to find the markers first this time around, although the Hayden and Amanda Cullen pair of Winelight and General Jen are drawn either side and look set to make her work.
Debbie Lincoln will without doubt roll across from wider out, but Francent has shown she’s got the speed to lead if they really want to.
“I think it’s our best option. If we can get to the front and control it from there, then the rest is really up to the horse. If she’s good enough, she’ll go close. If not, well, then we’ve done everything we can.”
Through this week, the future is a little up in the air for the mare going forward, with Jones revealing discussions are being held around a potential shift to Australia after the upcoming Auckland carnivals.
“There’s not much for her after Auckland for about six months, and she’s too good to wait around in the paddock for the Queen of Hearts at the end of the year. So she’ll probably go over and join the likes of Tokyo Rose and Captains Mistress where there’s plenty of racing.”
So Friday could be the last Canterbury sees of the mare for a while, and what a fitting farewell Group One glory would be for the best to come out of the western side of the Southern Alps in many, many years.
