She’s been a work in progress for some time, but the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Pierossa ($19) has put it all together to win the $200,000 Group 3 Spring Stakes at Newcastle.
After settling midfield with cover during the run, jockey Sam Clipperton managed to pull her out to the centre of the track and let down with a withering burst to overhaul Kazalark ($11) by a neck, with race favourite Robusto ($4F) a further neck back in third.
Clipperton has been in the irons for all but one of the Pierro filly’s six starts to date, and is now reaping the rewards for putting in the hard yards early.
“It was a tough win. I’ve had a lot of time for this filly for a fair while,” Clipperton said.
“She used to put on quite a show before the start, and she got me at Canterbury her first ever start and she got beaten a nose that day.
“So now it’s just about working with her and eliminating those habits, and I must say with racing she’s gotten a lot better.
“She’s a filly that you have to squeeze every little bit out of but she really knuckles down under hard riding.
“I think this filly is going to be an even more mature filly in the autumn, and particularly once she gets up to those 2000m and beyond distances.”
Co-trainer Paul Snowden was grateful for the work his team had put into the problem galloper, and also believes there could be bigger fish to fry as she gets over more ground.
“She’s come a long way after having a poor attitude as a young horse,” Snowden said.
“She was always going to improve with maturity and the staff have done a good job with her. We ironed out a few things and the team deserves a lot of credit.
“I think she proved she’ll run further. I know it was a slog, but I always thought she would get over 2000m. So it was good to see her being the strongest late.
“She’ll be in the paddock on Monday and we’ll look at the late autumn and into Brisbane.”
