Mornington trainer Shane Nichols is hoping the early support for Sunzou is on the money ahead of the two-year-old’s first start at Caulfield.
Sunzou makes his debut in the Listed Redoute’s Choice Stakes (1100m) on Saturday and has been backed from $10 into as short as $4.80 in early TAB betting on the race in which the John Sadler-trained Yowie was the $3.30 favourite.
Nichols said Sunzou, a two-year-old son of Zoustar, was a $150,000 yearling purchase from the Magic Millions Sale on the Gold Coast and had trialled nicely in preparation for his debut.
“I trialled him against Glenfiddich and Groundswell at Woolamai a couple of weeks ago and he trialled OK,” Nichols said.
“Those horses beat him home, but he went well.
“I wanted him in a trial where he was under a bit of pressure. He did corner on the wrong leg and got a little bit lost when he had to quicken.
“He’s vulnerable on Saturday because when he comes off the bridle he might lose his action a little bit, but the end result is I think he will be a really nice horse.
“He is an immature horse, but I’ve got a lot of time for him, and I think he will be much better at three.”
Nichols said Sunzou had been shin sore in a previous preparation, requiring a break, but had gone through his current campaign without any problems.
“We brought him up this time using Fulmen Park’s water walker plus he’s had a few trials,” Nichols said.
“He’s controlled the two-year-old trials pretty well, but against the older horses he was out of his comfort zone, which I wanted before he went to the races as part of his education.
“He’s a big strong horse, a good-looking colt.”
Nichols said if Sunzou performed well at Caulfield on Saturday, he may look to a stakes race in Adelaide in the coming weeks before a break ahead of the spring.
