Progressive Zebra Finch booked for Group 1 date
Another horse that looks to be J.J. Atkins-bound is the progressive colt Zebra Finch (Exceed and Excel) after he scored a narrow win in Saturday’s Schweppes Handicap (1300m) at Rosehill.
Having run fourth on debut at Warwick Farm, the son of Exceed And Excel (Danehill) built on that effort with a third-placed finish in the Clarendon Stakes (1400m) at Hawkesbury on May 3.
The James Cummings-trained colt was racing in blinkers for the first time on Saturday and fought home strongly under Kerrin McEvoy to narrowly defeat the Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained Zoutanium (Zoustar).
Chris Waller’s Hidden Achievement (I Am Invincible) finished a further 0.1 lengths back in third place.
McEvoy feels that Zebra Finch deserves a shot at the J.J. Atkins in two weeks time off the back of the win.
“It was nice to see him switch on and get that forward spot, and he’s a colt on the improve,” the winning rider said.
“It wasn’t a big winning margin but I’m sure with a better quality horse to aim at he’s going to go again and be better again.
“If he pulls up well I’d send him up there, because he rides like he’s going to get a mile. They made the call to put blinkers on, which has been a good call by all of us and he’s on the improve.”
Cummings’ stable representative Paul Reid echoed McEvoy’s sentiment, saying the race has been on the radar for the colt.
“That’s on the cards, for sure,” Reid said. “We just wanted to see him run well today.
“If he pulls up well, the team will work out where he goes. That was in the back of our mind coming into today.
“I know there’s a few others there aiming that way, too, but it was in the back of our mind.
“He definitely showed a bit of improvement with the blinkers where he could take a forward spot, which helped him in the run today with no pace on.
“I’m sure he’ll be better ridden a bit quieter, but just for today it worked out perfectly.”
A homebred for Godolphin, Zebra Finch is out of the winning Lonhro (Octagonal) mare Painted Firetail making him a half-brother to Adrian Knox Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m) winner Honeycreeper (Teofilo) and three other winners.
The Exceed And Excel cross has yielded 46 winners and the cohort is headed by eight stakes winners including four Group scorers.