Pariah has kicked off his three-year-old season in strong fashion with a first up win in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Easing back in the field from the wide draw with Blake Shinn on board, Pariah got a very nice run behind the speed before edging closer to the leaders coming to the turn.
Finding open space in the early part of the straight, Pariah ran on strongly to take the lead inside the 200m, running out a one length winner over Chauffeur in second with Jorda not far away in third.
Last seen when well beaten on a very heavy track in the Golden Slipper, Pariah returned a Timeform figure of 118p, equal to his second placing in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes last campaign.
Pariah is the equal highest rated winner of the race since it became a Group 3 in 2005, with Media also running to 118 in the same year.
The Team Snowden-trained runner ran two pounds higher than 2016 winner Star Turn although Snitzerland did run 117p in 2012 before the fillies allowance when beating Driefontein.
Clearly measuring up well to recent winners of the race, Pariah will now continue on to the Run To The Rose which will be a key indicator before the Golden Rose which no San Domenico winner has gone on to win previously.
Interestingly, Pariah ran the exact same time (1:03.20) as the Rosebud winner Menari who ran to 120p on that occasion and will also head towards the Golden Rose for what shapes up as an interesting tussle.
Of the beaten runners, Chauffeur also made a pleasing return and ran to 111, his highest since running to 115 when second to Houtzen in the Magic Millions 2yo Classic at the Gold Coast last campaign.
Godolphin runner Jorda is also one to follow who ran well for third and returned a Timeform figure of 109, one pound below her only previous start when winning the Gimcrack.
The race prior saw the Bjorn Baker-trained Addictive Nature score a very narrow win in the Group 3 Ming Dynasty (1400m).
Settling up on the speed, Addictive Nature kicked clear inside the 300m and did enough over the concluding to hold off Assimilate with Astoria almost two lengths away in third.
Having progressed very well throughout this preparation, Addictive Nature who was ridden by Tim Clark returned a new career peak Timeform figure of 106, 10 pounds above his second placing to Shogun Sun the start prior.
Addictive Nature returned a figure one pound below 2016 winner Swear but well above 2015 winner Metallic Crown who ran to 100.
The son of Savabeel is likely to show good improvement as he goes up in trip this campaign and despite still a bit off the likes of Pariah and Menari going into the Golden Rose, he is one to follow later on in some Victorian staying features.Assimilate suffered his first defeat when beaten by the barest of margins and also ran to a new career peak Timeform figure of 108, 11 pounds above his win at Randwickl the start prior.
Astoria in third was solid enough in third and returned a new career peak Timeform figure of 106 but never looked like threatening the top couple.
Bonny O’Reilly capped off a good day for the Bjorn Baker stable with a handy win in the Benchmark 95 Handicap over 1200m.
Resuming off a small spell, the now five-year-old mare settled off the leaders along the rail for much of the race, before taking over proceedings at the 200m, beating No Doubt by just under a length with Supreme Effort third.
Bonny O’Reilly, who carried 59.5kg, returned a new career peak Timeform figure of 110, six pounds above her listed win at Doomben last campaign and third placing in the Dane Ripper.
Having now won an impressive eight of 12 career starts, Baker indicated his mare will more than likely progress to the Group 3 Sheraco Stakes in two weeks where you think she will be very competitive on the back of that effort.
