Stud graduate wins in style

Lightly-tried three-year-old Il Paco looks a horse to follow with confidence after his tidy winning performance at Te Rapa yesterday. An encouraging fourth on debut in the autumn, the chestnut returned in style with a dominant performance.

“I said to Lynsey (Satherley) to sit back and not go with the speedsters and once he was balanced up on the turn he came home really well,” said Margaret Carter, who trains the gelding with her husband Tim. “He hadn’t had a jump-out or a trial so we threw him in at the deep end, but he does have the ability.”

He is a son of the former WS resident Paco Boy and was sold through the farm’s 2013 Weanling Sale draft to Karaka for $7000. Il Paco is out of the No Excuse Needed mare Ididntdoit, a daughter of the stakes winner and Group One performer Rampage Queen.