Cole’s welcome surprise
Iffshecan has proven a welcome surprise for trainer Cody Cole.
The juvenile filly had always struck the Matamata horseman as a 3-year-old type, but she has come along in leaps and bounds in recent months and will get her first tilt at stakes level at Whanganui this weekend.
The daughter of Iffraaj wasn’t showing her handler too much early on but turned a corner when she went to the trials in April, winning her 1025m heat at Taupo before going on to win impressively on debut over 1200m at Matamata in May.
“She never really showed a whole heap in trackwork before we trialled her and then she made a nice step up and made good improvement from her trial to her first start,” Cole said.
“I would have said she was six months’ away, and if we got her to the races, it was a bonus, let alone winning a race.
“She has just improved out of sight.”
While pleased with her progress, Cole admitted to being a bit surprised in the fashion Iffshecan won on debut, kicking clear by four lengths down the home straight and holding on for a three-quarters-ofa-length victory.
“I thought it looked like quite a competitive field on paper,” he said yesterday.
“A lot of the first starters had performed well at the trials and some that had been to the races had performed well enough as well. I was a little bit surprised when she kicked away by four lengths.”
Iffshecan has drawn barrier four in the Listed Castletown Stakes 2YO
1200 at Whanganui today, and Cole said they won’t be deviating from their front-running tactics.
“She will be putting herself on speed somewhere thereabouts, she has got plenty of gate speed and when you can go to the front and kick away, it takes a lot of bad luck out of the equation,” he said.
“She will need to have made a bit of improvement from her maiden win. It is stakes company and there are other horses that have performed at stakes level and have won races there. I couldn’t see why she wouldn’t measure up.”
A short freshen-up will follow as she gets ready for her spring 3-yearold campaign.