Lupo Solitario on track for elite-level debut in Proisir Plate

Danica Guy can’t wait to get to Ellerslie next month, where her Group 3 winner Lupo Solitario is set to have his first tilt at elite level in the Group 1 Proisir Plate.

The now six-year-old gelding was a standout for the Matamata trainer as a three-year-old, winning three of his six starts, including the Group 3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) where he beat subsequent Group 1 winner Orchestral, before he was sold to Hong Kong interests.

He had seven starts in the competitive racing jurisdiction for trainer Frankie Lor, but a race fall at Sha Tin knocked his confidence and a decision was made to send him back to his homeland after three subsequent unplaced runs.

He returned to Guy’s care, who took over the ownership of the son of Satono Aladdin, and she was rapt to see him return to his form of old when winning two of his five starts earlier this year, including the Group 3 Easter Handicap (1600m) at Ellerslie in April.

Guy has been equally pleased with the way he is building into his spring preparation, which included an effortless placing in his 1100m trial at Te Rapa on Tuesday under jockey Erin Leighton.

“He handled it really well, did it all under his own steam and pulled up well, which is great,” Guy said.

Lupo Solitario will now get a deserved tilt at weight-for-age company. 

“Hopefully we will go fresh-up into the Proisir Plate at Ellerslie,” Guy said. “It’s a Group One field and there will be nowhere to hide in it, but I would definitely like to give him a crack at it.

“I think he is getting better all the time too. He is getting healthier and his feet are getting better, we are definitely going in the right direction to look at a nice target like that.”