Zougotcha’s advertises Waller’s ‘genius’ with Coolmore Classic triumph

Listen

Champion jockey James McDonald labelled Chris Waller “a genius” and believes Zougotcha (Zoustar) had proven herself an historically elite mare in carrying top weight to a courageous victory in Saturday’s Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m) at Rosehill.

In notching her second top-tier win after Randwick’s Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) in 2022, along with her four Group 2s, four-year-old Zougotcha drew within two black–type victories of Widden flagbearer Zoustar’s all-time most successful stakes-winner Sunlight, who claimed eight. Zougotcha’s record also includes beating the males in the Phar Lap Stakes (Gr 2, 1500m) on this raceday last year. 

Sent off the $3.30 favourite after taking the Millie Fox Stakes (Gr 2, 1300m) first-up, Zougotcha settled fifth on the fence from barrier two, and after being pushed into the clear at the 300-metre mark, took the lead at the 150 metres and held off the fast-finishing Semana (Winning Rupert) to win by 0.4 lengths.

Three-year-old filly Kimochi (Brave Smash) was a further 0.08 lengths away, taking her earnings past $1m with her third Group 1 placing.

Celebrating his 90th top-level victory, McDonald praised Zougotcha for carrying 57 kilograms to her seventh career win at start 14, and said she deserved to be held in the highest regard.

“That was a good horse’s weight. We’re talking like Sunlines and those types of horses that have carried, obviously, a little bit more than her, but it’s still a proper horse’s weight,” McDonald said.

“And she had to lug it out a fair way on testing ground. I couldn’t be more proud of her.

“She had to dig deep. At the furlong I didn’t think she could win, I felt I was near empty and credit to her, she pinned her ears back and had a great crack. She’s just a top-class mare that’s trained to the minute.”

Zougotcha had, McDonald said, also performed a good horse’s feat by bouncing back from three unplaced runs over sprint distances last spring.

“I’ve been just stuck with her through ups and downs,” he said. “But those good fillies, they always tend to turn a corner after they have a lull, or they always find a way, because they have got a fantastic will to win and they are around a long time, not like the colts.

“But she’s special. She’s won a Flight Stakes and now a Coolmore. She’s a top-class mare.”

The result will heighten the focus on Zougotcha’s half-brother by Written Tycoon (Iglesia) who’ll be offered by Widden Stud as Lot 24 at the Inglis Australian Easter Sale, which begins its two-day run in Sydney on April 7.

She then ran sixth, fourth and sixth, all at Group level, between 1100 metres and 1400 metres in the spring, and it was the rebound from that campaign that had McDonald singing the praises of both mare and trainer yesterday.

“It’s well documented last preparation didn’t go to plan, but trained a little bit differently – [Waller] is a genius,” he said. “He stretched her work out and kept her a happy horse and she’s done the rest.”

Waller was delighted with a plan well executed, which yielded his 157th Group 1.

“It was good. Very rewarding,” said Waller of Zougotcha, now among the favourites for next month’s $5 million Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick.

“We tried to make her sprint [last spring] and she just wasn’t quite that type of model. But put her in a few extra 100 metres and that’s the difference.

“She was brilliant first-up and she carried the top weight in a good field today and beat them.”

Bred by Widden and Robert Anderston, Zougotcha was a $500,000 purchase from the stud’s draft at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale of 2021 for Waller and Mulcaster Bloodstock.

Raced by a group headed by long-term Waller client Noel Greenhalgh, the mare took her earnings past $1.7 million yesterday, while giving her broodmare value a massive boost with her victory in one of the country’s most important races for fillies and mares.

The mare is one of 49 individual stakes-winners worldwide for Widden’s headline act, Zoustar (Northern Meteor), who shuttled to Tweenhills Farm and Stud in each of the past five seasons. The stallion sat out his trip to England in 2024, but is expected to return to the northern hemisphere in 2025.

Zougotcha is the fifth foal and best progeny of the stakes-placed winner Fast Talker (Fastnet Rock). Having produced a Written Tycoon colt in 2022, who’ll be offered at Easter, Fast Talker missed in 2023, but returned to Zoustar last spring.

From the same family as Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Crystal Lily (Stratum), Zougotcha is a sister to stakes-winner Persuader and a half-sister to stakes-winner The Actuary (Sebring), being the fourth winner from stakes-placed Fast Talker, a half-sister by Fastnet Rock (Danehill) to stakes-winner Crystal Dreamer.

 

Jockey Dylan Gibbons said Semana, a $200,000 Gold Coast Magic Millions buy for James Bester and Vantage Thoroughbreds, who won the Gold Coast’s Magic Millions Cup (RL, 1400m) and Randwick’s Triscay Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) leading into yesterday, had turned in a “tremendous effort” after striking interference early on.

“I went to get on Kimochi’s back but the inside horse clattered into my face,” Gibbons said. “Probably needed that cart up. Has gone down fighting.”

Zac Lloyd was full of praise for the Gary Portelli-trained Kimochi, who raced wide without cover up handy from gate 14, and kept finding to the line.

“Extremely frustrating,” Lloyd said. “If she draws a barrier she wins, simple as that. She’s a very good filly. Had to do it the hard way.”

Slipper talks to be held for Dublin Down and Drifting

Connections of Dublin Down (Exceedance) and Drifting (Zousain) will decide on Sunday whether or not to push ahead to Saturday’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), following their last-chance wins in Saturday’s final lead-ups at Rosehill.

Dublin Down, an impressive third-start winner of the Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) on Melbourne Cup day, was forced by a health issue to make a rare first-up assault on the Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m) last month, but showed his class on Saturday with an all-the-way victory in yesterday’s Pago Pago Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).

Drifting, who won at Hawkesbury on debut, before placing second in Listed class at Flemington, worked hard from a wide gate but kicked clear to win the Magic Night Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) by 1.2 lengths. 

Drifting became the first stakes-winner for Zousain, a son and stud-mate of Widden’s flagbearer Zoustar. The race in fact brought a trifecta for Widden Stud inmates, with Fly Fly, a daughter of Trapeze Artist (Snitzel), taking second, while Chateau Miraval, another filly by Zousain, was third.

Bookmakers weren’t greatly moved by the pair’s qualification in the last chance saloon for the $5 million Slipper, with the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained Dublin Down shortening to a $33 chance, while Peter and Paul Snowden’s Drifting, in fact firming, but only to $51.

Still, their trainers said the lure of the world’s richest two-year-old race was strong.

“We will see,” said Calvin McEvoy of Dublin Down, who shone at $20 in yesterday’s first clockwise outing.

“We weren’t sure whether he was more of a Sires’ [Produce Stakes] horse, so we will keep all of the options open. But he’s up here, he’s earned his way into the Slipper so we will give it great consideration.”

Dublin Down had been among the Blue Diamond favourites after his Maribyrnong Plate win, but he required minor surgery for an entrapped epiglottis earlier this year, consigning him to the rare assignment of tackling Caulfield’s juvenile feature first-up from a spell.

McEvoy said his effort that day was brave, despite a 12th-placed finish, beaten 3.6 lengths.

“He actually got poleaxed, held up, the run was better than it looked in the Diamond,” said McEvoy, who added blinkers and a tongue tie yesterday.

“We were then keen to put the blinkers on. Exceedance really jumped out of the ground when the shades went on, and his mum [Dublin Lass by O’Reilly] did as well, so I was pleasantly surprised with that.”

Well-rated in front by Tim Clark, Dublin Down won by 0.5 lengths from Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Anode (I Am Invincible), with Matt Laurie’s Coleman (Pierata) atoning somewhat for his Blue Diamond flop in taking third, almost 1.6 lengths further back. Gatsby’s (Snitzel) was an unfulfilled fourth as $2.05 favourite.

Dublin Down’s sister from dual stakes-winner Dublin Lass (O’Reilly) will be the penultimate offering – Lot 499 – at next month’s Inglis Australian Easter Sale, offered by the Alma Vale/Kitchwin Hills Partnership. Dublin Lass threw a colt by Glenfiddich (Fastnet Rock) in September, and was most recently covered by Capitalist (Written Tycoon).

Bred by Edinburgh Park, Dublin Down was a $370,000 purchase for McEvoy Mitchell Racing and Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock Agency out of his breeder’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, making him the highest-priced yearling sold by the sire at the January auction and the highest-priced colt by the stallion sold last year.

He is the first foal out of the dual Listed-winning O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) mare Dublin Lass.

Exceedance (Exceed And Excel), who stood at Vinery Stud for $33,000 (inc GST) in 2023, has three winners from eight runners, with Dublin Down his sole stakes victor.

Meanwhile, Drifting started a $4.20 second-favourite yesterday, and beat $3 chance Fly Fly (Trapeze Artist) into second.

“It wasn’t a shock, it was just a matter of how easy we were going to get across and how much juice we were going to use, if she was going to relax and switch off, all that type of thing,” said co-trainer Paul Snowden, indicating Drifting would most likely go on to the Slipper.

“Obviously, you only get a chance once, and she’s a very tough filly so it wouldn’t be beyond her. We’ll give her every opportunity.”

Bred by Baddock Bloodstock, Drifting is the third and best winner from three foals to race from Backpacker Express (Big Brown), and was a $160,000 buy from Murrulla Stud’s draft for Team Snowden and William Johnson Racing at last year’s Inglis Classic Sale.

Yesterday’s race also runs in the family, with Backpacker Express a half-sister to Downhill Racer (Danehill Dancer), who like Drifting won the Magic Night Stakes at her third start, in 2007.

Muralla’s sister to Drifting was passed in short of a $100,000 reserve at the Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale earlier this week. Backpacker Express had a filly by Heroic Valour (Fastnet Rock) last spring, and is now in-foal to Profiteer (Capitalist).

Zousain, who stood for $22,000 (inc GST), last season, has four winners from 14 starters to sit equal-third by that marker on the Australian first-season sires’ table, one winner off the pace.