The Queensland Winter Racing Carnival is renowned for exposing emerging talent who go on the claim some of racing’s greatest riches. It happens almost every year and the list is a long and an incredibly impressive one whether you are recalling the likes of Ethereal (who did the Doomben Roses and Queensland Oaks double back in 2001 before going on to win the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup) … or the unparalleled Winx … or Eduardo … or so many runners that have, in their own way, advanced the cause of the value of competing in Queensland at this time.
What also generally happens though is that relatively few of those horses who do go on to reaffirm their superior credentials in the best of races in the Southern states, actually return to the Queensland Carnival … meaning that Queensland racegoers largely see them ‘in transit’, so to speak, so when a horse like Zaaki does come back for a second bite at the Queensland carnival action, he automatically becomes a major drawcard and a source of great expectation and excitement for the Queensland racing aficionado.
Zaaki … what a thrill he was last year in Queensland, landing a fascinating three-peat.
In a thirty-six day blitz, Zaaki won the Group 2 Hollindale over 1800m at the Gold Coast, the Group 1 Doomben Cup over 2000m at Doomben and the Group 2 Q22 over 2200m at Eagle Farm … but it was the run in the Doomben Cup, a seven length annihilation of his opposition that set Zaaki apart as one of the most exciting horses coming through the ranks at that time.
After that he went on to extend his winning sequence to five when taking out the Group 2 Tramway and the Group 1 Underwood before Probabeel reversed the Underwood result with Zaaki in the Caulfield Stakes where Zaaki finished third.
A heartbreak moment followed when Zaaki, a roaring hot favourite for the 2021 Cox Plate … some bookmakers had already paid out on the race … had to be withdrawn on the race-day morning due to the horse having an elevated temperature but, after putting that disappointment aside, Zaaki duly picked up from where he had left off, winning two of his next three starts (in the Group 1 McKinnon and the $5 million All Star Mile) to take his prize-money earnings past the $6 million mark!
In Zaaki’s last start, while his own effort was as stunning as many had come to expect, he was beaten to the line in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes in a race that will be remembered for the ride by Nash Rawiller long after the name of the winner is forgotten.
Rawiller brought Think It Over to the outside rail in the straight, chasing hard as Zaaki set a formidable target, leading and running on strongly down the centre of the track with Rawiller ultimately getting Think It Over home by a little over half-a-length.
In one sense, it was almost as if Rawiller had stolen the Group 1 victory away from Zaaki with his brashness, not to mention the no small matter of the $1.5 million difference in prize-money between first and second place.
And now Zaaki is heading back to Queensland where, like last year, he will kick off his campaign in the Hollindale at the Gold Coast on May 7.
It has been an enthralling, high performance fuelled career since Zaaki arrived at trainer Annabel Neasham’s yard from England.
Twelve starts for seven wins (three Group 1’s, three Group 2’s and the All Star Mile), two seconds and one third placing.
Zaaki’s career has had it all … Group 1 glory, an amazing runaway victory, huge disappointment of the late Cox Plate withdrawal and the narrow Queen Elizabeth Stakes defeat … and there was even a disqualification in there (from the Group 3 JRA Plate in which Zaaki finished second in the run before heading to Queensland to claim that memorable feature race treble).
It has been a ride-and-a-half for not only his connections but also for most punters who have really enjoyed the Zaaki show.
And now we have more to come.
Whether the undeniably huge disappointment on that Cox Plate morning had any bearing on the decision of Zaaki’s connections to draw a line through the Royal Ascot option for Zaaki this year, instead putting the addendum ‘maybe next year’ behind Zaaki’s name, is not known … but the decision to come to Queensland instead will allow Zaaki good enough time to be lined up for another tilt at the Cox Plate this year.
Either way, it is Queensland’s gain with Zaaki likely to be a standout attraction when he will again try to blitz his rivals in a short two week period on May 7 (in the Hollindale) and on May 21 (in the Doomben Cup) with the defending champion being justifiably heavily fancied in both races to keep his perfect Queensland record intact.
