Racing
Caffe Florian stamps quality in Gosford Guineas
Filly on the up as future looks bright after snaring first black type.
A filly cannot do much more in her first racing preparation than step up each time when asked and Caffe Florian has done just that in winning the Listed Gosford Guineas.
Trainer Richard Litt tried to remove all the pressure around the daughter of Snitzel's first attempt at gaining black type status by having no expectations of her this time, nor thinking about anything beyond this 1200-metre feature.
"Super filly and what she has done this preparation is pretty amazing," Litt said.
"Jason rode her beautifully and nursed her around the corner. I think there is so much more improvement in her and she'll go to the paddock now.
"We'll look after her and she'll come back a much better horse. We were happy to get here."
"Too much pressure for me," the Warwick Farm-based said when prompted on future plans and, at this stage, there are not any other than a spell before higher aims.
With the speed on in the early stages, Jason Collett aboard Caffe Florian ($1.75F) settled in the second half of the field and made a move before the turn with the filly looping the opposition to win by a ½-length margin over the Michael Freedman-trained Mareth ($5) in second with Memo ($4.60) – who suffered interference in the straight – 1¼-lengths away in third.
"She did it pretty easily and the pace was good early," Collett said.
"She wouldn't want any further at present as she's still learning what it is about.
"We made an early move when the pace came off at the start of the turn and she won it soft in the end."
Finishing third on debut at Canterbury on November 14, Caffe Florian has now strung three wins in succession in her four starts with the $400,000 purchase at the 2024 Inglis Easter Sale having clawed back $171,000 in prizemoney.
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