Soriano ready for international competition

10 February 2015

Graeme and Debbie Rogerson have international plans for Soriano, who doubled her tally at the highest level with a determined victory in Saturday’s Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa.

The Savabeel five-year-old ended a frustrating run of prestige race placings when she won the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day and then dropped back to a mile to finish a close second in the Gr.1 Thorndon Mile at Trentham.

“This mare has gone to another level and her trackwork has been outstanding since she got back from Wellington,” Graeme Rogerson said.

“She’ll go on to the New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie and then the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney and maybe Singapore later – she deserves to race against the world’s best.”

Saturday’s race panned out perfectly for Soriano and regular rider Rory Hutchings with an economical run three back on the fence.

A rails run presented itself at the top of the straight and Soriano wound up strongly to account for Nashville, who defied the pattern of the day by making ground out wide from the back of the field.

“It was a great ride by Rory,” Rogerson said. “He told me he was going to ride the fence and that shows what a great Group One rider he is.”

Soriano claimed the major prize by a long head from Nashville and the front-runner Fast Dragon turned in a courageous run for third in his first crack at weight-for-age company.

“I ended up in the perfect place and she was nice and relaxed,” Hutchings said.

“I saw that Fast Dragon didn’t make the bend 100 percent and my mare really dug in and pinned her ears back. This girl can go anywhere.”

Soriano has now won seven of her 40 starts to bank more than $740,000 for her breeder-owner Denise Howell, a long-time Rogerson employee. – NZ Racing Desk.

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