Zougotcha draws first blood in Silver Shadow
Champion trainer Chris Waller struck first in the opening leg of the Princess Series as Zougotcha (3 f Zoustar – Fast Talker by Fastnet Rock) secured a maiden stakes’ win in yesterday’s $250,000 Silver Shadow Stakes.
Possessing plenty of untapped potential, the daughter of Widden Stud stallion Zoustar (Northern Meteor) threw her name into the ring for this spring’s elite races, improving dramatically on anything she had previously shown to run out a $13 winner.
An easy winner of her debut at Canterbury in early April, the filly then finished second in a 1100-metre handicap at Randwick just over a fortnight later.
Given a slight break, Zougotcha returned to run a promising fifth in her first attempt at stakes level in the Bill Carter Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Eagle Farm in June.
Following a two-month freshener, Zougotcha finished second in a 900-metre trial at Rosehill last week in preparation for yesterday’s 1200-metre feature.
Settling well in third for jockey William Pike, the three-year-old made her challenge at the 300-metre mark and stayed on well to score a one-and-a-quarter-length success over the fast-finishing In Secret. The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained North Star Lass (Zoustar) was a further neck back in third.
After the race, Waller likened Zougotcha to her sire Zoustar, who he also trained to be competitive at two, with the colt really taking off in his three-year-old season when winning the 2013 Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
“She’s pretty much like Zoustar really,” Waller said. “He didn’t win the Group 1 [JJ Atkins] up there [in Brisbane] but he just exploded as a three-year-old.
“It is good to see him putting so much into his progeny. They are exciting horses and she is an example of that.”
Waller said the aim was to continue with the Princess Series races with Zougotcha and potentially stretch out to a mile for October’s Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
“It is a historical series that normally sees good horses perform. If we can get her through to a Flight Stakes, that would be fantastic, but one step at a time,” Waller said.
Zougotcha was a $500,000 purchase for her trainer and Mulcaster Bloodstock out of the Widden Stud consignment at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
The fifth foal out of the Listed-placed, winning Fastnet Rock (Danehill) mare Fast Talker, she is a sister to the Listed winner Persuader and a half-sister to Listed winner The Actuary (Sebring) and winner Campaign (Sebring).
Fast Talker was purchased by Vin Cox Bloodstock in 2011 for $280,000 from Widden Stud at the Inglis Sydney Easter Broodmare Sale.
She missed when returning to Zoustar last year and is due to foal to Written Tycoon (Iglesia) next month.
Widden Stud stallion Zoustar, who shuttles to UK-based stud Tweenhills for the northern hemisphere breeding season, stands for a fee of $198,000 (inc GST) and has now sired 31 individual stakes winners from 507 starters.