Farnan filly secures stakes success at Flemington
Recuperato doubled her sire Farnan’s (Not A Single Doubt) tally of stakes wins when she flew down the famous Flemington straight in the Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).
After an unplaced run on debut in the Cinderella Stakes (Listed, 1050m) and a third behind $1.4 million filly Conscience (Snitzel) at Sandown earlier in the month, Recuperato was unfancied by punters but outran a starting price of $11 to break a three-year stakes drought for her trainer Peter Gelagotis.
The filly, a $210,000 purchase from the Kenmore Lodge draft at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, becomes Farnan’s second stakes winner after King Of Pop got the stallion off the mark when he won the Black Opal Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) earlier in the month.
Following their 1.25-length defeat of Prestige Snitzel (Snitzel), Recuperato and her jockey Ben Melham were loudly cheered back to the mounting yard by an excitable ownership group which includes Michael Christian, whose Longwood Thoroughbred Farm produced Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) amongst others.
“This win means a lot to me and the whole team,” said Gelagotis, who last celebrated black-type success when Miss Roseiano (Exceed And Excel) claimed the 2022 Blue Diamond Preview (Gr 3, 1000m).
“The people in this horse are very staunch and long-serving clients who jumped in on our recommendation. We bought this filly on spec and carried the burden all the way through, until we got her trialled up. So for the guys to come on board and show faith in the team, it means a lot to me.
“We’re a tight-knit family operation, we value our staff and their efforts, so it’s great for everyone to get a reward like this. The key for me is to keep the horses sound and healthy, and to be able to come and compete on these days and get a result like this is the icing on the cake.”
Although on paper her form leading into the race appeared only moderate, Recuperato had bumped into some smart opponents with Lindsay Park’s Cinderella Stakes heroine Gin Spirit (Spirit Of Boom) who subsequently finished second in the Ottawa Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m), while recent Sandown winner Conscience and runner-up Sisstainable (I Am Invincible) are both beautifully bred fillies with price tags to match.
Recuperato’s closing sectionals that day persuaded Gelagotis to throw the filly in at the deep end, and her connections were duly rewarded with a $122,700 winner’s cheque which would be put to good use with a celebratory dinner in Melbourne.
“Her two races have really brought her on,” said Gelagotis. “She was a little bit exuberant in Adelaide, but I thought her run was creditable enough and she just got a little bit lost coming down the hill at her next start. But when she got out and got clear air, her closing sectionals indicated to us that she was worthy of being here.
“So we challenged her today, and she couldn’t have been more impressive and more emphatic. It was a deserved win, and I thought she was over the odds. I’m pretty sure the ownership group have had a good lick at those odds, and hopefully we can all go somewhere to celebrate tonight and have a fun night off the back of her efforts.”
Melham has enjoyed great success on this day, having previously piloted Cascadian (New Approach) to back-to-back Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) wins for Godolphin, and he was taken with the performance of a filly whose small stature is more than compensated by a big motor.
“I actually trialled her before she had her first start in Adelaide, and I quite liked her,” said Melham.
“She’s not overly big, but she makes up for that in heart. She had a good run throughout today with a nice bit of cover, I just presented her late and she let down really well.
“I thought the best part of her race the other day was late and through the line, so stepping out to 1200 metres with the benefit of a couple of raceday outings gave her a chance to track into the race, and she was very effective.
“She’s also got a lovely nature, and that takes them a long way.”
Earlier in the day, two-year-old Prestige Ole (Ole Kirk) made the most of an unexpected opportunity to score a second straight win for co-trainers David Brideoake and Matt Jenkins in the VOBIS Gold Plate (1400m).
The race had originally been restricted to VOBIS horses, but due to the dearth of nominations received that criteria was lifted and Prestige Ole was the beneficiary as he backed up his recent Ballarat Maiden win to take his earnings past $100,000 from just three starts.
The juvenile justified favouritism under Ben Allen to become the stable’s second Ole Kirk colt in the space of a week to carry Hong Kong-based owner Eric Yeung’s lime green and orange silks to victory.
Prestige Forever (Ole Kirk) registered a fourth stakes victory for his sire when he put his rivals to the sword in last Saturday’s St Albans Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at The Valley, with the $400,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale purchase likely to head north to contest either the Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) or the Kindergarten Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Randwick next Saturday.
In contrast, Prestige Ole will head to the paddock to recuperate and furnish ahead of a spring campaign which could see him stretch out to the mile.
“I really liked the way he settled behind the speed,” said Brideaoke.
“It looked to be a pretty slow speed up front, and then he let down very nicely. He will probably go for a spell now, and when he comes back as a three-year-old he’s probably going to run up to a mile I’d say.”
Prestige Ole narrowly held off the persistent challenge of Ciaron Maher’s debutant Amazake (Maurice), with second favourite Polish Playgirl (Exceedance) rounding out the top three for Team Hawkes.
The colt was bought by his owner for $70,000 on the Inglis April (Late) Online Sale in 2024.
With seven individual winners to his credit, Ole Kirk is the leading first-season sire by both winners and earnings.