KEY POINTS:
Il Quello Veloce ended a heartbreaking sequence of bad luck in feature races this season with a well-deserved victory in the Group One $200,000 Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes at Awapuni.
The 2-year-old daughter of Captain Rio has been a victim of circumstances recently including a desperately unlucky sixth placing three starts ago in the $1 million race at Ellerslie.
However veteran rider Noel Harris was at his brilliant, patient best yesterday, timing his challenge to perfection down the outside of the track in the home stretch to score effortlessly by 2 1/4 lengths over Captain Fantastic.
A further short head away third was San Bernardino.
Harris settled the filly at the back of the field and out of traffic problems, pulling wide on the hometurn to lengthen stride with plenty of galloping room and chased the leaders.
Winning trainer John Sargent was not in attendance yesterday as he was in Sydney supervising an all-out assault on the autumn carnival with Red Ruler and Young Centaur.
Il Quello Veloce will not join her stablemates in Sydney and will head to the spelling paddock with a consistent formline of two wins and three minor placings from six starts.
The favourite, Fully Fledged, was given a dream run close to the pace and swept forward into a challenging position wide out in the home stretch but only battled into fifth.
CAMBRIDGE TRAINER Roger James has adopted a patient policy with well-bred 3-year-old filly Valpolicella and was rewarded with an outstanding Group Two victory.
James has held the daughter of Red Ransom in high regard since she impressively won a stakes race last season.
Valpolicella easily overpowered Nom du Jeu to win the $100,000 The Oaks Stud Manawatu Classic scoring by three-quarters of a length. A further length away third was Thumbs Up.
Nom du Jeu was a last-start beaten favourite in the Group One $700,000 New Zealand Derby, troubled on that occasion by a wet track, but had no answer to the impressive performance posted by Valpolicella.
Since stepping up to racing beyond 1600m, Valpolicella has hit an impressive sequence of winning form, and James may now be tempted to head to Brisbane for a possible campaign over the winter.
James has been a prolific raider of the Queensland winter carnival and Valpolicella would excel in staying features like the Queensland Oaks.
SIR SLICK was back in his usual aggressive front running mood as seven rivals found out when chasing the 6-year-old in the $100,000 (Group Two) Awapuni Gold Cup.
Regular rider Bruce Herd was sporting a large smile during the early stages of the 2000m feature as he knew that there was plenty of horsepower underneath him.
Sir Slick ran the sprint finishing ability out of his rivals scoring by 1 3/4 lengths over Chettak with a further half-head back to Butch James (third).
Sir Slick may have his next start in the (Group One) Easter Handicap at Ellerslie on April 12 although that will depend on what weight he is given by chief handicapper Dean Nowell.
The front running warrior will then be prepared for a two-race campaign in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The $HK14 million Queen Elizabeth II Cup is set to be run at Sha Tin on April 28, and that will be followed by the $S3 million Singapore International Cup on May 18.
