Faraglioni will contest Saturday's Listed City Of Napier Sprint (1200m) at Trentham.
Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North)
The last time Faraglioni competed at Trentham she finished runner-up in the Gr.2 Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m), and trainer Josh Shaw is hoping for a similar result from his stable star when they return to the Upper Hutt track this weekend.
The six-year-old daughter of El Roca has only had the one start since that December contest, finishing 11th a month later in the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) at Ellerslie on Karaka Millions night, and will head into Saturday’s Listed City Of Napier Sprint (1200m) in a fresh state.
“I gave her an easy time after her race at Ellerslie in the Westbury Classic,” Shaw said of his Group One performer.
“That trial at Foxton and the run just jarred her up a wee bit and took a bit out of her, so we just went back to the drawing board and started again.
“She had a jumpout last week and is tracking pretty nicely, so we expect a good showing from her on Saturday.”
Faraglioni will likely have just the two runs before spelling ahead of a spring campaign.
“We will look to give her a couple of runs and see how she is and then put her aside, we don’t want to go too deep into the wet tracks,” Shaw said.
“She will probably have this one and then there are a couple of options – she could either go to Riccarton for the Listed Daphne Bannan race (Great Easter Stakes, 1400m), or go to Rotorua for the fillies and mares 1400 (Gr.3 Rotorua ITM Stakes) in early May.”
While looking forward to getting Faraglioni back to the races, Shaw is also excited about the prospects of her half-sister Chart The Stars, who is set to trial next week before making her debut.
“She is a lovely filly,” Shaw said. “They have got the same characteristics, but they are chalk and cheese in type. She is more of a slender, nice, neat filly whereas Faraglioni is a pretty bulky girl.
“She (Chart The Stars) will possibly have a trial at Foxton on Tuesday and I think she will appreciate a little bit of cut in the track and she will probably have two or three runs and then put her aside and wait for late spring, early summer.”
Faraglioni will be joined on her float trip south to Trentham on Saturday by stablemate Malibu, who will contest a maiden 1400m.
“I was a bit disappointed with him last start at Waverley (when fifth),” Shaw said. “He is a horse that clients bought off Gavelhouse and he has been going really well, but just the way the race was run last start didn’t really suit him. It was a crawl and sprint, and he just got out-sprinted.
“We will drop him back to 1400m on Saturday and use it as a run towards a maiden 2000m at Otaki 10 days later.”
By Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
