The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable has high hopes for Zambardo but also concede the galloper needs to again rise to a new level.
Entered for both the Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup, Zambardo makes his return in the So You Think Stakes (1500m) at Sandown on Saturday.
Zambardo is a lightly raced New Zealand-bred gelding that has won four of his 12 starts.
The five-year-old came from New Zealand a maiden, breaking through at his second start for Price and Kent Jnr on the Pakenham synthetic over 1600m before going on to record successive wins at Sale, Sandown and Caulfield.
That last win was in a 2000m benchmark 78 race on the middle day of the Caulfield Cup Carnival.
In a leap of faith, Price and Kent Jnr threw Zambardo in the deep end in the Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on the final day of Melbourne Cup week with the gelding beating all bar champion mare Via Sistina.
The handicapper hammered Zambardo for that placing, which earned connections $540,000, rising from a 78-rater to 103.
It ensured Zambardo would be weighted out of easier contests and would be forced to race at a higher grade, which he did during the autumn, starting in Sydney before winding up in Brisbane.
Price and Kent Jnr still want to try the gelding in ‘some nice races’ during the spring.
“We’re keen to be ambitious with him, until proven otherwise,” Kent Jnr said.
“The Cox Plate will certainly be considered, but he has to prove he is at that level.
“His form went a bit sideways last preparation, for a variety of reasons. He was getting a long way back, he had bad barriers, that Q22 was a funny race, they went no gallop and it wasn’t a test of anyone’s ability.
“I think we judge the horse on his first couple of runs back here in Melbourne, but what I can say, he is flying, going particularly well.”
With the Cox Plate this year run at Flemington as Moonee Valley undergoes a rebuild, Kent Jnr is looking forward to seeing Zambardo kick-off his campaign at Sandown.
“I think that is one of the keys to him as he’s raced there before and I think he will enjoy being back Sandown,” Kent Jnr said.
