John Sargent-trained filly Wootton Lass has booked herself another black-type opportunity during the Sydney autumn carnival after upstaging $3 million yearling Ernaux at Wednesday’s Kensington track meeting.
Much attention was on Ernaux, the second-highest priced filly at last year’s Australian Easter Yearling Sale, but she finished fourth after a slow start. Despite the disappointing result, assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth was pleased with her performance, noting that she quickened up nicely after the mishap. “Blowing the start made it very hard, but it was still a pretty good debut,” Duckworth said.
In contrast, Wootton Lass, who had an unremarkable performance in the Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) on her debut, showed significant improvement. Sargent praised her for being more relaxed and settled after her first run, which had “brought her on so much.”
The daughter of Wootton Bassett is proving to be a promising prospect, and Sargent is now eyeing the Group 2 Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 12 as her next target.
Meanwhile, Farnicle, a Farnan youngster trained by Adrian Bott, also impressed in the other two-year-old race on the card. Bott believes the colt will improve with distance and maturity, and could either head to Queensland for the winter carnival or be given a break to prepare for his three-year-old season.