A decision to transfer talented Capitalist filly Alpha Sofie from the Queensland stable of Jason Edwards to Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman in Victoria last year is proving a good one with the filly staking a serious claim for the big autumn sprints at Caulfield on Saturday.
Winner of the Listed MRC Atlantic Jewel Stakes (1200m) at her first run for the new stable last spring, Alpha Sofie was set aside after that and was resuming from a spell in the Group III MRC Peter Le Grand Stakes (1100m).
Ridden by Zac Spain, who steered the filly to victory back in the spring, Alpha Sofie chimed in with a brilliant finish to surge clear and win by a length and a half.
Katherine Coleman would not be drawn into speculating too far on what comes next for Alpha Sofie.
“Let's not get to far ahead of ourselves but that was really impressive. She couldn't have won more convincingly than that,” she said.
"I was a fantastic ride from Zac Spain. He took luck out of the occasion by putting her where she was going to be able to get out and get mobile when she needed to.
"We haven't got anything set in stone this preparation. We're going to aim to keep her to the short courses. We toyed with the idea of stretching her out to a mile, but I think we know she's got that electric turn-of-foot over the short distances.
"We'll keep her to that, but we won't make any decisions on race day. It'll be exciting where she heads to next."
Alpha Sofie has the overall record of four wins from five starts with over $325,000 in prizemoney and the promise of more to come.
A $150,000 Inglis Classic purchase from Davali Thoroughbreds for Munetos Pty Ltd, Alpha Sofie runs for an ownership group that includes her breeders Dan and Linda Alford and Mary Anne Holland, who also raced her mother Sofie’s Gold Class.
Interestingly they also were in the ownership of her sire Capitalist, so the success of Alpha Sofie really is a family affair.
“This is the first foal we’ve bred out of a mare by Capitalist and to watch a mare that we own and a stallion that we raced, it’s a super day,’’ Dan Alford said after her first stakes win last spring.
“And we own the mare still, it’s fantastic. Thanks to Tosh Murphy, he bought the horse and allowed us to stay in and it’s been a big buzz.’’
Alpha Sofie is the first foal of stakes-placed Hard Spun (USA) mare Sofie’s Gold Class, a grand-daughter of Champion 2YO Filly Victory Vein.
Covered again by Capitalist last spring after missing to him in 2024, Sofie’s Gold Class has a yearling filly by Satono Aladdin (Jpn) that is entered in the Davali Thoroughbreds draft for Inglis Easter as Lot 111.
