Promising three-year-old filly Puzzle opened her winning account with a convincing performance at Trentham on Sunday, with trainer Johno Benner confident there is plenty more to come from the daughter of Satono Aladdin.
Prepared at Otaki by Benner for owner Gary Harding, Puzzle appreciated the improved track conditions when scoring a two-length victory in the Rat Tat (He's 26) Maiden (1400m).
The filly had finished third on debut at Waverley on a Heavy 8 surface but relished the Good 4 footing at Trentham, where she produced an impressive turn of foot under Craig Grylls.
Settling midfield in a slowly run contest, Puzzle was brought into the clear by Grylls before accelerating strongly to put the result beyond doubt.
The hard-luck story of the race was $1.50 favourite Top Marks, who settled behind the leader from an inside draw but was shuffled back to last and never saw clear running.
Benner admitted he had expected Top Marks to prove too strong but was delighted with the way his filly capitalised.
“Honestly, coming here today, I thought she'd run second,” Benner said. “I think the horse that was pretty unlucky there (Top Marks) is a good horse, but we took advantage of that.
“It was a great ride by Craig. We got further back than I expected on a pretty slow tempo, but he had to do that to get one-off.
“She let go quickly and she's a good-actioned filly that is going to get 2000m, so it's all upwards from here.”
While Puzzle was initially nominated for the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton, Benner elected not to proceed with the classic campaign, believing the filly would benefit from more time.
“We had her in the 1000 Guineas early in the piece, but decided not to make the next payment, simply because I think it's a little bit of a bridge too far for her at this stage,” he said.
“She's been a slow-maturing filly and thanks to Gary and Linda, who are very patient with two or three of these sorts of horses I've got in the barn, we're able to do what we want with them and take our time.”
Benner is now considering a short break for Puzzle before targeting some of the better fillies' races over the summer and autumn.
“There are plenty of stakes races for fillies around here over Christmas, so whether she has a little let-up now and we look at some of those better fillies' mile races, and then into the autumn with the 2000m races, we'll see.”
Harding purchased Puzzle for $170,000 from Brighthill Farm's draft at the 2024 NZB National Weanling Sale.
By Rich Hill Stud stallion Satono Aladdin, Puzzle is out of the Rip Van Winkle mare Henley Road, a half-sister to four-time Group One winner Callsign Mav. - NZ Racing Desk
