Dolce Strega
Dolce Strega put up a nice performance to finish second to Best In The World in the juvenile fillies' listed race at The Curragh on Sunday.
Settled in at the rear of the field from her inside draw by Billy Lee through the early stages of the race, the early pace was not strong, and Lee actually had to take her off heels a little as they started the turn for home. Last of the nine runners and trapped on the inside as they straightened up, she still travelled well at the two-furlong pole as her rivals came under pressure. She did get a gap on the run to the furlong marker, and she picked up nicely from there, running all the way to the line to get to within three parts of a length of the winner by the time they reached the winning line.
This was a good run from Willie McCreery's filly. She was disadvantaged by racing at the rear of the field, given how the race was run, and she did well to make as much ground as she did on the leaders into a quickening pace. This a race that has been won by Aidan O'Brien with subsequent 1000 Guineas winner Homecoming Queen and with subsequent Fillies' Mile winner Together Forever in the recent past, and it is probable that the winner, another O'Brien filly, could be good. A full-sister to Found and Magical Dream, she shaped with a lot of promise on her racecourse debut behind Rayisa at Gowran Park, and she was well-backed here. Time may show that it was a huge run from the runner-up to get as close to her as she did, especially given how the race was run.
Dolce Strega herself had shaped with promise on her previous run, in a listed race at Fairyhouse over six furlongs, when she saw a lot of daylight from early. From a staying family - she is from the family of Cesarewitch winner Darley Sun - she appeared to appreciate the step up to a mile here. She will be interesting over this trip again now, and she should improve for stepping up again in distance next season.
11th October 2015
Back