Soriano, Sacred Star Win in New Zealand
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Soriano slipped up on the inside of pacesetter Fast Dragon late in the Herbie Dyke Stakes (NZ-I) Feb. 7 at Te Rapa Racecourse and battled that rival stride for stride before getting her head in front at the finish.
The race was one of two group I events on Saturday's card at the New Zealand racecourse. Two races later, Raffles Thoroughbred Racing's Sacred Star scored an authoritative win as the favorite in the NRM Sprint.
The victory was the second at the top level this season for Soriano, a 5-year-old daughter of Savabeel who won the Zabeel Mile (NZ-I) Dec. 26 at Ellerslie. She came up a heartbreaking second to Puccini by a nose in her subsequent start, the Harcourts Thorndon Mile (NZ-I) Jan. 24, when cut back to one mile. She would not be denied again Saturday.
Fast Dragon was first away in the 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) Herbie Dyke, with Perfect Star, Lauren Tate, and Breaking Dawn in close attendance, and was still in charge at the 150-meter mark. Kicking smartly from midfield with Rory Hutchings, Soriano was up for a strong late challenge and proved best.
A Graeme and Debbie Rogerson trainee, Soriano finished the trip in 2:01.45 on turf rated as good.
Nashville swooped down the outside to take second, a long head back, while Fast Dragon was a head back in third.
"I ended up in the perfect place and she was nice and relaxed," Hutchings said of how the race unfolded. "I saw that Fast Dragon didn't make the bend 100% and my mare really dug in and pinned her ears back. This girl can go anywhere."
New Zealand-bred Soriano has won seven of her 40 starts to bank more than NZ$740,000 for her breeder-owner Denise Howell, a longtime Rogerson employee. Soriano's dam is the Just a Dancer mare Call Me Lily.
"She'll go on to the New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie and then the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney and maybe Singapore later—she deserves to race against the world's best," Graeme Rogerson said of Soriano.
In the NRM Sprint, Sacred Star made amends for a runner-up finish in last year's edition of the race and added a second successive group I win to his record. Breaking from the outside post in the 10-horse field, he got a perfectly timed ride for a clear win.
Powering past the front-runners with the finish line in sight, the 5-year-old son of Flying Spur asserted himself to score by 1 1/4 lengths from Natuzzi, with Spin Doctor a head away third.
"There was a good, even tempo and I ended up with a beautiful run," winning rider Vinnie Colgan said. "I knew at the 400 (meter mark) that I had plenty of horse and it was a matter of waiting to let him go."
Sacred Star completed the 1,400-meter (about seven-furlong) contest in 1:20.81. He has won eight of 23 career starts for trainer Tony Pike, including the JR & N Telegraph (NZ-I) Jan. 24 at Trentham in his previous start.
The Aus$2 million Stradbroke (Aus-I) is the main target this season for Sacred Star, who was fifth in that race last June at Eagle Farms.
Bred in Australia by Mark Ruff, Sacred Star is out of the O'Reilly mare Irish Nova.