High-priced Profondo passes first test with Kensington win
The connections of $1.9 million colt Profondo began the trek to recoup their outlay as the three-year-old won in awkward style in the opener at Randwick-Kensington on Wednesday.
Topping the 2020 Magic Millions Yearling Sale, the son of the late Japanese sire Deep Impact was purchased by Galletta Construction Co Pty Ltd, who also owned two-time Group 1 winner Castelvecchio.
Profondo was a brilliant trialist prior to his much anticipated debut, winning three of his four public trials in very good fashion.
While the youngster didn’t win with much authority over the 1400m on Wednesday, he looked like he had plenty to learn.
After opening at around $4, he was crunched into as low as $2.10 before easing out late to $3.80, partially due to the heavy backing of Money From The Sky.
Profondo jumped well from barrier eight under Robbie Dolan and settled fifth in the run on the back of a generous tempo, before being produced in the straight and winning by an official margin of 0.15 lengths over Mokulua.
Trainer Richard Litt has been patient with his expensive colt despite having nominated him for some high-quality Group 1 races this spring.
“We thought we presented him very well and he showed that today,” he told Sky Racing.
“He did a wonderful job, Robbie (Dolan).
“He got in one-off there and he didn’t overtax him or anything like that, let him find his feet and I thought he hit the line well.
“He’ll take a lot of improvement out of that I know that for sure because 1400m first-up is not easy for any horse, but he’s seemed to have handled it really well – onwards and upwards.”
While there are no plans set in stone for Profondo, Litt certainly had a spring in his step post-race, indicating that he has some lofty ambitions for the Spring Carnival and on to the autumn next year.
“We don’t like to get too far ahead of ourselves, but obviously in Sydney we’ve got some wonderful racing coming up and then leading into Melbourne and then obviously next year as well,” Litt said.
“We’re very fortunate; we’re very lucky to have a horse on our hands like this.
“I’m delighted for the owners – they’ve been wonderful supporters of mine and having these high-priced horses is an absolute privilege in my yard.”
Profondo does hold a nomination for the Golden Rose, Caulfield Guineas and Cox Plate, but punters certainly gravitated towards him for the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) after horses went past the post yesterday, backing him from $26 into as low as $9 for the October 9 feature.