Chris Waller's promising colt D'argento has backed up his impressive debut performance with a comfortable win in the Welcome Rydalmere CBC 2YO Handicap (1500m) at Rosehill.
The son of So You Think wound up powerfully to get up in final stride to defeat the heavily backed Smartedge over 1200m at Newcastle on debut, clearly giving the indication he would enjoy a step up in trip.
Punters did not miss the performance and the two-year-old was backed off the map to make it two wins in as many starts, firming from as much as $3.60 in early markets into dominant $1.75 favourite.
Hugh Bowman settled the grey colt mid-field with cover before popping out three-wide coming into the straight.
D'argento sprinted powerfully down the outside to pick up Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott's Runaway ($9.50) which fought on gamely to finish a neck away in second, with a further 2-1/4 lengths back to Peter and Paul Snowden's Almighty ($17) in third.
"He felt pretty good from where I was sitting," Bowman said.
"He's got a bit of growing up to do mentally but physically he's the real deal.''
Bowman was of the opinion we will see the best of D'argento in time.
"I came out early because the pace had slackened," he said.
"There was a nice tempo mid-race but the pace slackened and I don't feel he's a sit and sprint type, I think he's a horse that's going to improve as he gets over even further, so I didn't want to be sitting back spotting them six lengths.
"He's got a bit of growing up to do mentally. He's not as straight forward as some horses are at this stage of their life but considering he's got the pedigree to get over further I think it's very encouraging."
Champion trainer Chris Waller was impressed with the victory and will now consider which path to take with the rising three-year-old heading into the spring carnival.
"He didn't win by a big margin but I don't think that's very important. It's all about the experience and helping him improve," Waller said.
"It'd be easy to target races like the Gloaming and Spring Champion but my gut tells me maybe to wait for a Carbine Club at the end of the spring."
The win extended Hugh Bowman's lead in the Sydney Jockeys' Premiership to 3-1/2 wins over Brenton Avdulla on the final day of the metropolitan season.
