SAO Paulo was expected to win sooner in her career – it’s taken her five runs to crack her Maiden but she finally got it right for jockey JP van der Merwe at Turffontein on Sunday and chances are her second win will come quicker than her first.

A three-year-old daughter of Trippi and the four-time winning handicapper Garota De Ipanema, she ran on strongly win by three lengths over 1450m and assistant trainer Mathew De Kock commented: “We had a few niggles with Sao Paulo but she’s put that behind her and she can now win a few more.”

Garota De Ipanema was at her best around 1800m-2000m, suggesting that we’ll see more improvement over ground from her daughter. Both are owned by Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud.