Classy fillies to fly the Lindsay colours at The Valley
Probabeel the headline act but Cambridge Stud owners have two exciting three-year-olds engaged in Melbourne tomorrow
The way in which Zouzarella (Zoustar) won her debut at Moonee Valley last month and the wide grin across jockey Brett Prebble’s face as he excitedly steered her back to scale, left us in no doubt that she’s a potential stakes winner.
Tomorrow, she returns to the course for her first opportunity to prove she’s black type material in the Atlantic Jewel Stakes (Listed, 1200m), where she takes on a field of 12 rival fillies.
“She found the line really well at Moonee Valley, she was terrific. We are keen to eventually get her on a bigger course at Caulfield or Flemington,” co-owner Brendan Lindsay said.
Lindsay and his wife Jo, principals of Cambridge Stud in New Zealand and in whose name she races, have always had the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Caulfield on the daughter of Zoustar’s (Northern Meteor) agenda this spring and tomorrow’s assignment over the 1200-metre trip is an important stepping stone towards that aim.
“The goal with her is the Thousand Guineas. We want to get three runs into her beforehand to get a bit into her legs,” Lindsay added.
Fresh from riding Group 1 winner Behemoth (All Too Hard) last weekend, resurgent rider Brett Prebble has glued himself to her saddle for the long ride.
“The first time he rode her at the jump-outs he rang Henry (Plumptre) and said ‘you’ve got a real horse here, can I stay on her?’
“We had a chat and said ‘yes, we are happy to keep you on’. It’s good with the jockeys when they want to be on them right from the word go,” Lindsay said.
The couple, under the banner of Cambridge Stud, bought Zouzarella at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $250,000 out of the Glastonbury Farms draft and whatever she does tomorrow and beyond will boost her importance as a future broodmare asset for their operation.
“We had her broken in and pre-trained here at our Karaka facility and knew from the get-go she was better than average.”
Lindsay did suggest, however, that there lingered some reservation from her trainers ahead of her second race start tomorrow.
“The only thing with her is the weather forecast is not too good and the Freedman’s are of the opinion she’s looking for 1400 metres already, so there’s a caution there.”
Kahma Lass (Darci Brahma), trained by champion New Zealand trainer Jamie Richards, will also carry the Lindsay colours at The Valley tomorrow in the Chautauqua Stakes (Listed, 1200m).
A $290,000 purchase by David Ellis at the 2019 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale, the highlight of her short, five-race resume so far is winning the New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), navigating her way through the field to defeat Miss Tycoon Rose (Written Tycoon) and Cornflower Blue (Savabeel) by three-quarters of a length and a head.
“She won a Group 1 in New Zealand and Australians like to say it’s akin to winning their equivalent of a Group 3t, but we don’t agree. I don’t care where they win a Group 1, even if it’s the Chatham Islands,” he said.
Now a four-year-old, Kahma Lass had just one start in Sydney during the autumn and ran down the track in the Light Fingers Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) in February, her only start since her Classic triumph.
“When we took her to Australia last time she didn’t settle in. This time she has and she’s put on a couple of kilos since she got there,” Lindsay said, but he remains realistic about her chances against a strong field tomorrow.
“We are still going to line her up. She has the visitors draw but she’s just doing so well he’s (Richards) keen to run her. There’s a race in a couple of weeks that’s her main goal. We’d just like to see her run on tomorrow.”
The biggest star of Lindsay’s spring team is Probabeel (Savabeel), who made a winning start to her campaign in the Cockram Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) last start at Caulfield.
“She’s pulled up really well and they are very, very happy with her.”
Now a five-year-old and winner of more than $3.7 million in prize-money, Probabeel’s main goal is the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) in which she ran seventh (beaten four and a half lengths) last year.
“I said to Jamie the day after the race last year, you’ve got 364 days to get this horse back to the Cox Plate next year,” Lindsay said.
“It’s such an iconic race and you have to aim for the moon and she’s won three Group 1s, so she’s entitled to have a crack on a good track. Whether she’s good enough, time will tell.”
Earlier this week it was confirmed that Brett Prebble will partner Probabeel for the rest of the spring after Damian Lane committed to Verry Elleegant (Zed) in Melbourne.
“The Cox Plate has always been our goal since the race last year and we felt we needed a jockey to be with her all the way through,” Lindsay explained.
“It was a tough call because Damian and Probabeel get on well together but with borders closed it’s going to make it difficult for jockeys over the carnival.”
Prebble will ride Probabeel in a jump-out next Friday, before her next start in the Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on September 18 at Caulfield.
“She’s taken no harm from her last race and Jamie is confident she will improve those two or three lengths she’s going to need to, to win the Rupert Clarke,” Lindsay said.