Joe Pride knows what it takes to capture the first black-type race of the Sydney season and he believes bonny mare Fasika can deliver him a fourth win in the Missile Stakes.
Pride has won the August sprint with Rain Affair twice and Eduardo last year, and the common denominators have been finding a horse with a combination of class and residual fitness.
As a Group One placegetter and coming off a winter carnival run in Brisbane in May, Fasika is a perfect fit for Pride’s Missile Stakes recipe.
“It bobs up a little bit early in the season for a lot of good horses so there is an advantage in bringing one back that has either been racing through the winter as Eduardo was last year, or just a horse that’s had a short let-up, and that’s her,” Pride said.
“I’m looking forward to Saturday. It looks her race to lose almost.
“She’s got a fair advantage on quite a few of her rivals. I’ve got a healthy respect for Kolding but he’s not a 1200 metre horse.”
A field of seven will contest the Missile Stakes (1200m) with Hellenism scratched in preference for an easier assignment on Saturday’s program.
Usually run at Rosehill, the feature has been shifted to Randwick due to the COVID-19 outbreak and Fasika has a better record at headquarters where she has won three of her seven starts and finished out of the money only once.
The mare had soundness issues last spring and was given a lengthy spell to recover, returning in the autumn to win the Sapphire Stakes.
She struggled to handle the controversial Eagle Farm circuit at her only other start last campaign, prompting Pride to bypass the remainder of the Brisbane winter carnival to focus on the spring
“The only other assignments there were the Stradbroke and Tatt’s Tiara, both at Eagle Farm, and for me she didn’t go good enough that day to bother taking her back, so I decided I’d concentrate on the early part of the spring with her,” Pride said.
“She’s as sound as I’ve ever had her, she’s big and strong and rearing to go.”
Fasika is likely to head to the Winx Stakes (1400m) on August 21 second-up with her major target the new $2 million fillies and mares’ race, The Invitation, in October.
