"Andrew and I were delighted," O'Sullivan said. "Sam rode him quietly in the hope that he would settle, which he did and it was a lovely trial.
"He'll be on the plane to Melbourne in the middle of the month and the idea is to trial him over there at the end of the month and then into the Danehill Stakes."
Meanwhile, the connections of Francaletta face an anxious wait to see if the talented mare gets a crack at an early season feature.
"We'll be chasing black type with her and we'd like to run her in the Foxbridge Plate, but it will be tight whether or not she gets in," said Bruce Perry, who manages owner Lib Petagna's thoroughbred interests.
Francaletta, who was a tidy fourth over 1000m at the Te Teko trials yesterday, won her first four races last season for trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman before she was unplaced in the Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes. Group one winner Rangipo is free of the back issues that hindered his last campaign.
"He kept going sore in his back and we couldn't work out what it was," trainer Tony Pike said."We checked his stifles and hocks and the usual places and couldn't come up with anything. In the end, we found some arthritic changes in his spine so that was the reason.
"We've treated him and it's made a huge difference."
Back to full health, the New Zealand Derby winner won a 950m jump-out on his home track on Monday to further his spring preparation.
"He travelled well throughout and looked pretty happy doing it," said Pike, who has yet to decide if Rangipo will have a lead-up run before the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy at Hastings.
"He could go there fresh-up or there is the opportunity to run in the Foxbridge Plate," he said.
"We'll monitor his progress over the next few weeks and then decide."
- NZ Racing Desk
