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Il Affare looks the deal; Sophisticardo wins in eventful debut
Il Affare looks the deal
Peter and Dawn Williams unleashed a three-year-old filly of promise when Il Affare broke maiden ranks over 1600m at Avondale on Wednesday.
The daughter of Dundeel had bumped into a couple of smart gallopers previously, having finished second to Vamos Bebe two starts back before closing well for fourth behind the highly-touted Rocket Spade at her most recent start.
Sporting the colours of Greg Tomlinson's Nearco Stud, Il Affare came with a well-timed run under Ashvin Goindasamy and relished stepping up to a mile to win by a length.
"She is a nice staying filly that has taken a bit of time to mature," Peter Williams said.
"We will just take her quietly and probably won't be doing much with her until Christmas. There are not that many races for staying fillies at this time of the year."
Il Affare is a half-sister to Hong Kong Group Three winning sprinter Full Of Beauty.
Talented stablemate Helsinki remains a maiden galloper after missing her opportunity to get a win on the board when the races at Avondale were abandoned following a short but heavy shower of rain on a Good2 surface, rendering the surface slippery.
"I have no qualms with them calling the races off, especially on a Good 2 with a shower of rain on it," Williams said.
"I would hate to see someone get hurt or a horse get hurt, so we move on to the next race day.
"I don't know where we head with Helsinki. We might just go straight to the Soliloquy Stakes (Gr.3, 1400m) but I will have to have a look at the program."
Sophisticardo wins in eventful debut
The Jamie Richards-trained juvenile Sophisticardo proved too good for his rivals when winning over 800m at Avondale on Wednesday.
Sent out the $1.40 favourite in a small field of four, Sophisticardo, a son of Burgundy, will derive good benefit from the outing after being slow into stride and coping with a riderless horse to his outside early in the contest after rival Brix dropped jockey Ashvin Goindasamy coming out of the barriers.
Ridden by Troy Harris, Sophisticardo scored by a comfortable two and three-quarter lengths and banked some prizemoney which will assist in qualifying for the lucrative Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) in January.
"It didn't go as planned from the barrier, but it ended up being a nice educational day out for him and he won well," Richards said.
"He received a nice run behind the speed and quickened well on the point of the home turn. He changed legs, did everything nicely and won with authority.
"We'll probably back off him for a couple of weeks now, give him time to freshen-up and find another suitable assignment.
"I was really pleased with the way he behaved at the races. He has a good attitude for a colt and he seems to be going the right way."
Sophisticardo was purchased by Te Akau principal David Ellis for $30,000 at the 2020 Karaka Book 1 Yearling Sale, from the draft of Cambridge Stud.
