Carefully placed last season by astute trainer Danny O’Brien, Sass Appeal went to the paddock after winning the Group II VRC Kewney Stakes (1600m) at Flemington back in early March and returned to the same venue on Saturday to pick up where she left off.
O’Brien has always maintained the daughter of So You Think has G1 potential and that view will be tested next month, but the first step on her journey came in the Benchmark 100 event over 1400m.
Ridden by Logan Bates, Sass Appeal was a short priced favourite and jumped swiftly to the lead and stayed there. She rolled along at an even tempo and was a class above in winning by three-quarters of a length.
Danny O’Brien can now look towards the spring with the Group I MRC Sir Rupert Clarke (1400m) and Toorak Handicap (1600m) looming as target races.
“We’re just really pleased to get her started as hopefully there’s a deep spring in front of her and it was important we did get started today and get our ratings points if she is going to work her way into a couple of G1 handicaps,” he said.
“We put her out early so as to have a good break over the autumn and we’ve had her in work for quite a while knowing we were going to be busy early in the spring.
“She’s exactly where we hoped to have her.”
A $120,000 Inglis Premier purchase from Vinery Stud for her trainer, Sass Appeal runs for a big group of stable clients and has the overall record of five wins and a second from six starts with prizemoney just shy of $500,000.
A half-sister to Group II winner Cristal Clear, is one of three winners from three to race from Group III placed Cristal Eyes, a half-sister by All Too Hard to Group III winner Flying Evelyn.
Third dam is Group I Coolmore Classic winner Bollinger and fourth dam Golden Slipper winner Bint Marscay, so Sass Appeal is a filly with a big pedigree!
Cristal Eyes produced a colt by Ole Kirk last spring before going to Exceedance.
So You Think covered 75 mares before he died last October and his final foals will be born this spring.
