Sydney sojourn beckons for exciting Farnan filly
Having ended a stakes drought courtesy of an explosive win by Recuperato (Farnan) in the Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), Peter Gelagotis is now targeting a breakthrough juvenile success in Sydney on Saturday when his “sassy” filly marks the stable’s very first runner in a two-year-old race in the Harbour City.
Monday’s trackwork gallop the Sydney way of going convinced Gelagotis that Recuperato was ready to test herself against a plethora of well-credentialed rivals in the Percy Sykes Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), with the filly due to travel north overnight on Thursday before taking up temporary residence at Warwick Farm.
Gelagotis’ previous interstate raids have proved very fruitful, with Levendi (Pierro)–winning both the Tulloch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) and Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) in 2018 and Moss ‘N’ Dale (Castledale) claiming the Craven Plate (Gr 3, 2000m) later that same year.
Conceding home advantage to the cream of Sydney’s two-year-old ranks represents a different challenge altogether, but Recuperato might just possess the ‘X-factor’ required to beat the locals in their own backyard.
The visual impact of her 1.25-length victory at Flemington, where she became the second stakes winner for her Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m)-winning sire, suggests Recuperato has the potential to bridge the gap to the likes of last-start Magic Night Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) heroine Memo (Capitalist) at Randwick on day two of The Championships.
“She didn’t turn a hair when she travelled to Adelaide for her debut run, so I’m very confident she’ll handle the trip to Sydney just as well,” Gelagotis told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“She’s a very measured filly but she can be quite sassy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the good ones often have a bit of sass about them. She’s quite fidgety when you saddle her up, but she’s usually nice and relaxed once she gets out onto the track.
“She was a bit exuberant on debut, but she has improved her manners every time she has gone to the races. I think she’s taken improvement from her last start, but she’ll probably have to find another length or two to win again on Saturday.
“What I do know is that she has a very sharp turn of foot, and I really liked her track gallop the Sydney way on Monday morning. She didn’t smash the clock or anything like that, but she changed legs nicely and visually her work under a tight hold was easily as good, if not better than it had been leading into Flemington.
“I thought she was brilliant that day, we knew she was pretty good but she showed she might be a bit better than that. She’s definitely got the talent and the motor, and hopefully she can show that against some very good fillies on Saturday. We hadn’t won a stakes race for three years, but I’m hoping we won’t have to wait another three for the next one.”
Trackside at Flemington that day as part of Team Recuperato were part-owners Michael Christian – of Longwood Thoroughbred Farm fame – and his brother Brad, who will both be making the trip to Sydney to watch the filly on Saturday.
The perhaps unlikely alliance between the AFL and breeding powerbroker and the knockabout trainer from regional Victoria first came about when Gelagotis’ brother and assistant trainer Manny partnered with James Bester to purchase a half-sister to In Secret (I Am Invincible) from the Longwood draft at the 2023 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
Christian retained a share in the filly, who races as Secret Elegance (Snitzel), and a friendship was formed which led to his involvement in Recuperato after she won her first public jumpout at Pakenham at the end of January.
Once Ben Melham had given the filly his seal of approval following her second jumpout, connections opted to shoot for the stars and target the Cinderella Stakes (Listed, 1050m) on debut.
A somewhat wayward on-pace performance at Morphettville forced Gelagotis to take her home and work on her race crafts, with a subsequent minor placing behind Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman’s high-priced filly Conscience (Snitzel) revealing further glimpses of her talent.
Start three was when it all came together, as Recuperato came from near last at the 400-metre mark to mow down her rivals under Melham, who was also on board when the Gelagotis-trained Malaguerra (Magnus) just edged a thrilling VRC Sprint Classic (Gr 1, 1200m) in 2016.
Melham, whose only other ride on Saturday is in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) on Tom Kitten (Harry Angel), was a keen advocate for the proposed trip to Sydney, and provided she has the scope for further improvement Gelagotis believes the sole Farnan filly in his stable is well capable of outrunning her opening quote of $26.
“I quite like the draw in barrier nine, because I think the race maps quite well for her from out there,” said Gelagtois.
“Provided we’ve got a bit of cover, I don’t mind being three-deep in a 1200-metre race. We’ve got the race favourite [Tempted] outside us in barrier 12, so it will be interesting to see what James McDonald does with her.
“But we’ll just worry about ourselves and concentrate on our filly. We have a very good jockey on board, his ride last time was very cool and calmer – and maybe a bit cooler than what I had expected – but he got it right and his confidence in the horse was justified. He backed himself to get it right, and hopefully he gets it right again on Saturday.”
Recuperato was a $210,000 acquisition from the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling draft offered by Kenmore Lodge, operated by the husband and wife team of Cameron and Kellie Bond.
Kellie’s mother Yvonne had originally paid $100,000 to secure the filly’s dam Afiado (Encosta de Lago) when she was in foal to Sebring (More Than Ready) – a purchase which at the time didn’t necessarily have her daughter’s full backing, as she explained.
“I must admit that I was a bit worried about the pedigree depth in the mare, so I wasn’t totally convinced we would get a commercial result out of her,” Bond told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“But Mum said she was the best-looking Encosta de Lago she’d ever laid eyes on, so she was determined to buy her anyway. And it proved a pretty good decision, because her first foal was bought by James Harron for $475,000. So happily Mum was right and I was clearly wrong.”
Since then, Afiado has produced some moderate racetrack performers, but her fourth foal might just be the one to put her name up in lights as Recuperato looks to provide a further pedigree update for Mum’s progeny, which includes a sister born last year.
Kellie and Yvonne will be keen observers from afar on Saturday when she makes her fourth competitive appearance in the $1 million contest, but regardless of the outcome Bond is confident the best is yet to come.
“We’ve supported Farnan with a lot of our mares so we have a bit riding on him, and it’s good to see he’s really starting to find his mark now,” said Bond.
“We also run a breaking-in and pre-training operation at Kenmore, and we’ve had a few Farnans come to us. Cameron commented that a lot of them feel like horses which will be better if you let them get into their stride, rather than hustling them up on speed. In the early days, a few of them were soft late in the trials when they’d been hard ridden up front.
“So it was really interesting and pleasing to see Recuperato flash home late after being ridden off the speed at Flemington. Obviously every horse is different but I do think that’s generally the best way to ride them.
“I also think a lot of them will get better as we get deeper into the season and into their three-year-old campaigns, because not all of them are as precocious as she is. So we’re all hoping she might be even better next prep, and it would be pretty exciting if she is.”