Caprese won a sprint race at Mysore during August in splendid fashion and though trainer Jaggy Dhariwal and the connections had the inkling of what to expect from her, they persisted racing her over a mile where her speed was blunted and she did not live up to expectations. At the beginning of the winter season, Caprese had the beating of Holding Court over seven furlongs and later she confirmed her class getting the better of Hesperus in a thriller over an identical distance. Only four three-year olds in Bangalore enjoyed the rating of over 50 in August last year and they were Holding Court, Mystical, Caprese and Hesperus and all these four horses have proved to be extraordinary.

Darius Byramji trained Iberian had more takers than Caprese to win the Sprinters Trial Stakes. Iberian had won all her outings in brilliant fashion and her win in the highest class where she won without being extended perhaps exaggerated her abilities as she had not taken on the likes of Caprese while winning. Though she was graduating into the highest bracket, Iberian was still expected to prove her mettle. Iberian led the field from the word `go’, with Caprese close in attendance, followed by Opera Queen and the rest. Caprese easily sailed past the front-runner in the final furlong and won decisively while Opera Queen finished on strongly snatching the runner up spot. Splendid Smith came up with a good stretch run to finish third ahead of Iberian. Caprese will now be a frontline contender for the Gr 1 Sprinters Cup which will be one of the highlights of the Invitation Cup weekend races to be held in the first week of March.

Caprese is from the second crop of Burden of Proof.