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Faraglioni back on track with trial victory
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • May 28th, 2025 10:30 am
Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North)
Group One performer Faraglioni showed she is back on track this preparation following her comfortable 1000m trial victory at Foxton on Tuesday.
The six-year-old mare put in a subpar showing when finishing last in the Listed City Of Napier Sprint (1200m) at Trentham last month, with a subsequent blood test revealing she had an iron deficiency.
Trainer and part-owner Josh Shaw gave his pride and joy a few weeks in the paddock, and he was a relieved man on Tuesday when watching her dominate her heat.
“She was really deficient in iron after that Trentham run,” Shaw said. “She gets her bloods done routinely leading up to races and it was pretty good to go before the run.
“You do that (blood tests) on the Tuesday morning and by the time Saturday comes around there could be something going on. She has obviously picked up something in between.
“After Trentham we gave her three weeks in the paddock. I haven’t done a lot of work with her, she just held a bit of residual fitness. She has just been ticking over and it was good to see her doing it as comfortably as she did today.
“Looking at the times, she has gone a second quicker than probably every other heat today, and to be fair, she hasn’t even come off the bridle.
“It’s a little bit of weight taken off the shoulders for the meantime, but once the blood tests come back again and make sure we are back in the right shape, we will be full steam ahead.”
Faraglioni is nominated for Wanganui on Saturday, however, Shaw said it will be unlikely that she will take her place in that field and will more than likely head to Ellerslie next weekend instead, with the ultimate aim being the Listed Tauranga Classic (1400m) next month.
“If she trialled over 850m I would have probably said we will go full steam ahead to Saturday, but just the 1000m trial on a Heavy track, it’s not looking likely,” Shaw said.
“There’s a couple of options coming up. There’s an Open 1400m at Ellerslie next Saturday, which she could look to go to, otherwise we might look to give her another tune-up trial and head to that fillies and mares weight-for-age (Tauranga Classic), and then she will head to the paddock.”
While her best results have come on better going, Faraglioni holds a strong record on Heavy tracks, winning four of her nine starts on the surface, and Shaw justifiably holds no fears heading into winter with her.
“She has got the action of a wet-tracker but she has performed out of her skin on top of the ground,” he said.
“It is just a shame she has never met one of those good races on an off track. She has still got time, and while she is happy and healthy we will give her every chance.”
