Veteran trainer Pat Duff admits he is still stunned by the ease of Steel Zip’s win two weeks ago.
Steel Zip returned to the winners’ list with a three lengths win in an open handicap at Doomben over 1350m.
Duff believes he will have to repeat the run if he is to beat a top field on Saturday at Doomben.
“It wasn’t the fact he won but rather how he won that left me stunned,” Duff said.
He said he had felt the track would have been too firm for Steel Zip to be at his top.
“But maybe I have been wrong all along,” Duff said.
“I have always felt he was best on a track with the sting out of it.
“Steel Zip certainly showed me up there. The leader-timed final 600 metres was 33.69 seconds. It means Steel Zip ran very close to 32 seconds for his final 600.
“That is a really fast sectional in anyone’s opinion. Maybe the old bloke is just getting better with age.”
The now eight-year-old Steel Zip does most of his work on the beach, not far from Duff’s Deagon stables.
“He loves the beach and if anything he has improved a little since his last run. But he will need to be because he faces a very tough field on Saturday,” Duff said.
“There are some very good horses such as Rudy and Daph `N’ Alf in the field. He will need to be at his best to beat them.”
