No hard feelings as Sagaciously and Sagely say good morning on Thursday
Sagaciously and Sagely headed to Glorious Goodwood on Wednesday for the ten furlong 0-105 fillies’ handicap which was part of the innovative and much welcomed EBF fillies’ series. The series provides a welcome boost in income to owners of good fillies who are either progressing up to Listed level or have not quite reached that level yet. Both fillies had disappointed on their previous starts but both had excuses and they headed into the race in good form.
The older half-sister Sagaciously was soon settled in midfield on the outside whilst her younger half-sister Sagely was dropped in at the rear of the field on the inside. The Sir Mark Prescott trained Rioca took the field along at a good clip which allowed both of our fillies to settle nicely. As they headed into the last two furlongs both fillies were travelling well and when Sagaciously got a split she came through the gap and took the lead over one furlong out. Sagely had to come wide to mount her challenge but when she saw daylight she started to make ground and closed on her sister’s hindquarters. It was the older sister who prevailed however as Sagaciously found plenty for pressure to draw right away to win by nearly three lengths. Sagely ran a tremendous race to hold Intimation for second place and therefore bring up a sibling first and second.
It was a fine weight carrying performance by the daughter of Lawman and it is the second time this season she has carried a big weight to victory. Given she has done this well off of a mark of 95 it is clearly a career best performance and she will now have a low triple digit handicap mark. There is every reason to believe she can gain some Black Type when she gets her optimum conditions. Sagely has progressed once more after her Newcastle blip where she was cut up, she will edge up for this and may look for some Black Type also in the future.
Congratulations to Sagaciously’s owners The Sagacious Lot whose patience has really paid off this year and she has now earnt over £37,000 in prize money in 2016. This was win 41 for us this calendar year and we are edging towards the half century which would be a great mark to reach and hopefully pass. Well done to everyone in the yard and especially Paul Beschizza who looks after both of the fillies. It was a shame one filly had to be beaten but given both of them had their optimum conditions and it was a big meeting they both had to run, barring a dead heat this was the next best result and we are proud of them both.