Smart Align three-year-old Fully Fledged makes his third appearance in Sydney when he contests the A$150,000 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
Fully Fledged has already had two starts in Sydney during the autumn carnival with these including a close last-start third in the A$100,000 Strada Stakes (1200m) at Randwick last Saturday.
Cambridge co-trainer Murray Baker was rapt with Fully Fledged’s latest race-day performance. “He drew wide out and carried plenty of weight but really got home in the final stages of the race and hit the line strongly. He badly needed the run, “Baker said. “It showed he’s very competitive with the three-year-olds in Australia,” said Baker.
The Phar Lap Stakes has been the major target of this Sydney campaign for Fully Fledged since he travelled across the Tasman.
Fully Fledged was rated the leading male two-year-old in New Zealand last season. During his juvenile campaign the son of Align won twice and weighed in at five of his six outings as a two-year-old. He won on debut at the Taupo meeting last December. In his Group 1 Ford Diamond Stakes (1200m) win he defeated Raid and subsequent Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Il Quello Veloce.
Fully Fledged takes on a mighty field in the Phar Lap Stakes which includes the likes of Whobegotyou, Heart Of Dreams, Fravashi, Predatory Pricer and Matamata-trained filly Il Quello Veloce.
