Lindsay Park and the Punt Road Syndications team found themselves in familiar territory on Wednesday as Soldi claimed Victoria’s second juvenile race of the season at Caulfield.
Soldi emerged as a gritty winner of the $175,000 Listed Debutant Stakes (1000m), marking the second consecutive year the Punt Rd colours have been carried to victory by a filly trained by Ben, Will & Jd Hayes.
This success followed their win 12 months prior with the Sword Of State filly Torture. JD Hayes expressed his delight in delivering another win for the team, forged through a shared passion for racing and the Richmond Football Club.
“Back-to-back for Punt Road Syndicates – Johnny O’Neill, Jay Steet and the crew – and we’ve formed a bit of relationship and getting some nice results, especially with the two-year-olds,” he stated. “It was great for her to do that. We thought she’d taken nice improvement out of her trial here at Caulfield Heath the other day and she only got there by the barest of margins, but we’ll take it.”
The daughter of Tassort made a perfect start to her career with a short-head triumph over the $3 favourite Royal Press. The $3.80 second elect displayed rapid early speed but was positioned one off the fence after Jye Mcneil urged the Alabama Express colt Royal Press along the inside. Nevertheless, Soldi fought back strongly, maintaining a similar advantage over that colt for the final 150 metres.
Winning jockey Blake Shinn believed Soldi benefited from the challenge presented by the runner-up.
“That is her best asset, her professionalism, and just natural ability,” Shinn said. “She’s got a lot of natural talent and it was nice to see, when she got into that bit of a fight there late, she really was determined to win.”
While Torture, a New Zealand-bred, competed in the Karaka Million following her Debutant Stakes win, that option is unavailable for Soldi, a $310,000 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale acquisition. Hayes is now eager to determine her next racing destination.
“Whether she’s had enough before Christmas or whether we go again is a decision that we’ll have to make, because she does look like a real professional and has seriously got some speed there,” Hayes concluded. You can find the best racing odds on all upcoming races at Australian betting sites.
