The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Zouzarella has lived up to the pre-race hype with a narrow but impressive debut win at The Valley.
The Zoustar filly was well-supported in early betting for the Roll The Dice Racing Plate (1200m) on the strength of an impressive barrier trial at Cranbourne on August 9.
But come race day, Zouzarella was easy in the market, however under Brett Prebble it mattered little as she fought off a strong challenge from Zapateo to win by a head with Wonderful Tonight, three-quarters-of-a-length away third.
Sam Freedman said the stable wanted Zouzarella to have a good experience at her racecourse debut, adding that coming to town with one of their fillies was something they rarely do.
“It was a really good performance and she’s had a really good experience,” Freedman said.
“I spoke to Brett pre-race saying we didn’t want her to have a real gut-buster. We just wanted her to find her feet and hit the line.
“She’s got a pedigree that suggests that she can get out in trip a little bit and she probably raced like that today.
“She might have had enough there on the line but she’ll certainly improve for the whole experience.”
If Zouzarella continues to improve the way the stable thinks, Freedman said she would be given the chance of contesting the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield in October.
Freedman said the stable had nothing planned beyond Saturday’s debut but would now look at what options are available in the lead-up to the Thousand Guineas.
“She’s got to keep improving,” Freedman said.
“The fillies she’s going to come up against are going to get better and better, but she’s made a really good start and she’s a very promising horse.”
There was a sad postscript with the death of the Lindsay Park-trained filly Widaad collapsing around 400m after the finishing line of a suspected heart attack.
Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au