By Mary-Jo Jackson

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A well-timed move to Victoria has already paid off for connections of Alpha Sofie (Capitalist), who produced a dominant rail-hugging display to claim the Atlantic Jewel Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at The Valley on Saturday.

Formerly prepared in Queensland by Jason Edwards, Alpha Sofie arrived at the Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman stable last month with back-to-back Eagle Farm wins under her belt. 

Well-backed into $5.50 on Saturday, she settled beautifully for Zac Spain from barrier four, before cutting the corner on straightening and sprinting clear to score by two lengths over the Ciaron Maher-trained pair Custom (Street Boss) and Salty Pearl (Tagaloa) – with just 0.1 lengths splitting the stablemates. 

It was a commanding performance on Victorian debut, taking the Capitalist (Written Tycoon) filly’s record to three wins from four starts and lifting her prize-money beyond $200,000.

Coleman was quick to credit Alpha Sofie’s former trainer for her preparation before joining their Pakenham yard.

“She’s a filly that’s done really well in her first couple of starts in Queensland, the Edwards stable up there did a fantastic job with her and they sent her down to us in brilliant order,” Coleman told Racing.com. “Really all credit goes to them.

“We’ve only had her for a short space of time and she’s had a few nice pieces of work leading into this, including a jump-out at Pakenham. We’ve been really pleased with the work that she’s done, but to see her come here and do it today, it takes it to another level.”

Connections now have options to stretch the three-year-old out in trip, with the Thousand Guineas Prelude (Gr 2, 1400m) flagged as her likely next step.

“She’s got a beautiful walk on her, she’s just a really lovely filly, naturally very athletic…she’s done everything with ease that we’ve put in front of her so far,” Coleman said. 

“I’d say first impressions, hopefully there’s enough horse there still that we can go on with it and maybe look to head towards a Guineas Prelude if she does well after today.”

A $150,000 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale purchase for Munetos Pty Ltd, Alpha Sofie is the first foal out of the stakes-placed mare Sofie’s Gold Class (Hard Spun), who was also raced by Alpha Sofie’s breeders, the Alford and Holland families. They campaigned both Capitalist and the dam, making Saturday’s win very much a family success.

Alpha Sofie became the 26th individual stakes winner for Newgate Farm’s Capitalist, whose son Fierce, a $600,000 purchase for Hawkes Racing at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, struck on debut at Hawesbury on the same afternoon. Ninth on the general sire’s table last season, Capitalist is standing at a reduced fee of $44,000 (inc GST) this season.