Soami (Zac lloyd, outside, white sleeves) trained by David Pfieffer wins at Rosehill on July 22, 2023 – photo by Martin King/Sportpix copyright
David Pfieffer is optimistic the decision to rehabilitate Soami following a leg issue will eventually reward his connections as the rising eight-year-old prepares to return to the races for the first time in twelve months.
The winner of eight of his 45 starts and more than $430,000 in prizemoney, Soami has already been a wonderful money-spinner for his owners.
He scored back-to-back Midway Handicap wins in July last year and was racing in some of the best form of his career when a leg problem flared, sidelining him for most of the 2023-24 season.
While that might mean the end of the road for many horses of Soami’s vintage, Pfieffer said the fact the gelding had been a late maturer, combined with strong prizemoney levels in Sydney, convinced connections to persevere.
“You wouldn’t hold his age against him, he’s still prancing around like he’s a toddler,” Pfieffer said.
“He is one of those horses who has got a little bit better each preparation.
“With a horse of his age, reasonably sound who has put about $400,000 in the bank, they’re hard to replace and the prizemoney in Sydney is so lucrative it’s hard to give up easily.”
Soami will step out for the first time since August last year in the Schweizer Kobras Lawyers Handicap (1000m) at Randwick on Saturday.
His best form is over slightly further so Pfieffer isn’t expecting a winning return, but he will be looking for a positive run.
“The 1000 metres is obviously going to be a bit short of his best, but it’s a nice starting point for him,” he said.
“He will be back in the field and I expect to see him working home nicely.”
Pfieffer is hoping the Sunshine Coast track dries out from it’s current heavy 10 rating for fellow stable stalwart Rocketing By, who is set to contest the Listed Glasshouse Handicap (1400m) on Sunday.
The race was scheduled for last weekend but was postponed due to deteriorating conditions and if the track surface did improve, Pfieffer said his Eye Liner Stakes runner-up was going well enough to feature in the finish again.
“He’s a very simple horse to train, you’ve just got to get things to fall into place, moreso the tracks,” Pfieffer said
“He loves it in between a (soft) five and a seven, so we really need this track to improve for us.”