Peter Snowden has continued his incredible affinity with the Hawkesbury stand-alone meeting, adding the Gold Rush to his list of feature race wins courtesy of talented sprinter Zealously.
Snowden has been supporting the program since its inception and has claimed the Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) seven times and the Guineas (1400m) five times among his record 18 wins in the afternoon’s major races.
Zealously ($4 fav) led and was never seriously challenged to take out Saturday’s $200,000 Hawkesbury Gold Rush (1100m) by 1-1/2 lengths over Bev’s Nine ($10) with Monte Supreme ($7) third, none of the backmarkers able to make significant headway.
Snowden was rapt to see the four-year-old break through for a stakes win, and admitted he had been concerned when the track appeared to be “doughy” earlier in the day as Zealously relished firm ground.
“I was a little bit worried when I saw the track today. You wouldn’t want it any wetter for him,” Snowden said.
“But I thought he’d be able to control the speed and when he got a soft sectional between the 400 and the corner, he was going to be hard to beat.”
Snowden is likely to dodge a trip to the Scone carnival with Zealously and instead focus on a winter assault in Brisbane.
He said there were several options for the sprinter in Queensland, provided the tracks were dry.
“I think we will look at Brisbane with him now,” he said.
“I’ve got Fire Star and King Of Sparta for Scone, so I’m just trying to spread them around.”
Zealously was partnered by Tom Sherry, who said the horse had returned more mature this preparation and had learned to conserve his energy.
“Once he can control a race like that, he’s always going to be very competitive,” Sherry said.
“I feel as though he’s relaxing a lot better this preparation than in his previous ones, which will stand him in good stead going forward.”
