Outstanding New Zealand filly Il Quello Veloce could be a Doncaster Handicap contender if things continue to go to plan.Last season's champion juvenile, Il Quello Veloce won Saturday's Group Three Higgins Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni despite being uncomfortable on the wet track.Trainer John Sargent will give Il Quello Veloce a few days off then start her preparation for the $1 million Telegraph Handicap (1200m) at Trentham on January 17.After that race, Sargent said he would look to the r

Outstanding New Zealand filly Il Quello Veloce could be a Doncaster Handicap contender if things continue to go to plan.

Last season's champion juvenile, Il Quello Veloce won Saturday's Group Three Higgins Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni despite being uncomfortable on the wet track.

Trainer John Sargent will give Il Quello Veloce a few days off then start her preparation for the $1 million Telegraph Handicap (1200m) at Trentham on January 17.

After that race, Sargent said he would look to the rich fillies' races in Sydney and possibly the Group One Doncaster Handicap (1600m) at Randwick on April 18.

"She will have a couple of days off now and we will set her for the Telegraph and then might go to Sydney in the autumn," Sargent told NZPA.

The last three-year-old filly to win the Doncaster was the great Sunline in 1999.

Jockey Noel Harris had wanted to Sargent to scratch Il Quello Veloce from Saturday's race when rain made the track greasy, particularly after one of his earlier mounts slipped a couple of times.

But after a few phone calls to the trainer and another fall of rain he agreed they should run.

"The rain that fell after his earlier rides probably made the track safer," Sargent said.

Harris timed his run well and she was able to hold off a game Bulginbaah, who was conceding her 7kg, by a long neck.

Sargent said that while the filly did not like the wet track, her class and the weight concession told in the end.

The TAB has Il Quello Veloce as a $9 chance for the Telegraph, with international star Takeover Target $3.50 favourite, though his participation is still dependent on biosecurity officials making a decision soon to drop quarantine restrictions.

Il Quello Veloce has now won four of her 11 starts for $412,000 in stakemoney.

Her wins include the Diamond Stakes and Sires Produce Stakes, both Group One events, while she was a close second to Tell A Tale in the Group One Two Thousand Guineas at Riccarton last month.

NZPA