Lindsay Park and the Punt Road Syndications team celebrated a notable achievement on Wednesday at Caulfield, with Soldi emerging victorious in Victoria’s second juvenile race of the 2026 season.

Soldi proved a tough winner of the $175,000 Listed Debutant Stakes (1000m), continuing a streak for the Punt Rd colours, which were also carried to victory by a filly trained by Ben, Will & Jd Hayes in the previous year.

This success followed their 2025 win with Torture, a Sword Of State filly. JD Hayes expressed his satisfaction in delivering another win for the syndicate, whose origins lie in a shared passion for racing and the Richmond Football Club.

“Back-to-back for Punt Road Syndicates – Johnny O’Neill, Jay Steet and the crew – and we’ve formed a bit of relationship and getting some nice results, especially with the two-year-olds,” JD Hayes commented. “It was great for her to do that. We thought she’d taken nice improvement out of her trial here at Caulfield Heath the other day and she only got there by the barest of margins, but we’ll take it.”

The daughter of Tassort made a flawless start to her career, winning by a short-head over the $3 favourite, Royal Press. Soldi, at $3.80, demonstrated early pace but was positioned slightly off the fence after Jye Mcneil’s inside run on Tony and Calvin McEvoy’s Alabama Express colt Royal Press. Soldi responded impressively, holding a similar margin over the colt in the final 150 metres.

Jockey Blake Shinn indicated that Soldi thrived on the competitive pressure from her rival.

“That is her best asset, her professionalism, and just natural ability,” Shinn stated. “She’s got a lot of natural talent and it was nice to see, when she got into that bit of a fight there late, she really was determined to win.”

While Torture, a New Zealand-bred, contested the Karaka Million post-Debutants Stakes win, that path is not available for Soldi, who was acquired for $310,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale. Hayes is now contemplating her future racing plans.

“Whether she’s had enough before Christmas or whether we go again is a decision that we’ll have to make, because she does look like a real professional and has seriously got some speed there,” Hayes concluded. Discover the best betting sites for all the upcoming racing action at online bookmakers.