Pedigree, precociousness and poise.
They were three of the qualities that stood out to bloodstock specialist James Harron when he inspected Zambezi River as a yearling, and they will be critical if the colt is to race his way into this year’s Golden Slipper.
Harron, who has been involved in the purchase of two Slipper winners, Capitalist and Vancouver, teamed up with Coolmore to secure Zambezi River for his colts syndicate, paying $1.15 million at the Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
By outstanding producer I Am Invincible out of 2016 Blue Diamond Stakes placegetter Zamzam, Harron said the youngster had the physical attributes to match his page.
“Physically, he was a very forward type of colt,” Harron said.
“He was a very balanced horse. We thought he looked very precocious.
“He has got a really nice speed pedigree and, combined with (being by) I Am Invincible, he was an exciting proposition.”
Zambezi River has been entrusted to Chris Waller, who is renowned for his tempered approach with two-year-olds.
He found the line stylishly when runner-up to Sejardan at his only start in the Breeders’ Plate and is poised to resume in the Canonbury Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday with Harron understandably upbeat about his autumn prospects.
“He was able to get to the Breeders’ Plate off just one preparation,” Harron said.
“It’s quite rare that you see Easter horses get to the Breeders’ Plate and perform so well. He was very underdone, Chris was just letting him get there naturally himself.
“He is a very promising horse and he seems to have come back bigger and better and a lot more polished than last preparation.”
A field of eight has accepted for the Canonbury Stakes with Waller also paying up for highly-touted debutant Great Barrier Reef and Robusto, who was fourth in the Maribyrnong Trial at his only start in the spring.
Eleven fillies will clash in the Widden Stakes (1100m), while boom colt Anamoe headlines the eight-horse line up in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m).
