Rarely does Joe Pride deviate from his slow-and-steady approach to taking horses through their grades but the trainer has broken the mould for undefeated filly Fasika.
The three-year-old will go straight from a midweek win at Warwick Farm to Listed company when she lines up in the South Pacific Classic (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday.
While the daughter of So You Think has been a slow burn, only making her debut a month ago, she has shown a level of ability in her two races that has convinced Pride to raise the bar sooner rather than later.
“She’s got acceleration and that’s actually quite rare,” Pride said.
“You see horses that can gallop well enough, but it’s hard to find one that can really sprint off the mark and that wins you races.
“It’s not like me to deep-end a horse.”
Pride picked out Fasika at the 2017 Easter Yearling Sale and teamed up with syndicators Tricolours Racing to buy her for $120,000.
She didn’t stand out as a younger horse in the stable and while Pride is fast-tracking her career now, it has come on the back of patience.
“If you’d asked me about her as a two-year-old I wouldn’t have had too much comment on her because she just wasn’t ready,” Pride said.
“But I never write off an immature horse. You’ve just got to wait for them and that’s what we’ve done with her.”
Fasika shares top billing for the South Pacific Classic at $4.80, along with the Bjorn Baker-trained Green Aeon who is also unbeaten in two starts.
