John O'Shea is likely to keep his powder dry with Zou Tiger
Golden Rose placegetter Zou Tiger, the clear-cut favourite for the inaugural Tapp-Craig, is no certainty to run with connections reluctant to send him around on a bottomless track.
Randwick was downgraded to a heavy 10 on Thursday morning after receiving 30mm of rain in the preceding 24 hours and trainer John O’Shea said the colt was too valuable to risk if the surface stayed in that range.
“He would be highly unlikely to run on a heavy 10,” O’Shea said.
“He’s a beautiful young colt with a stallion’s pedigree and the last thing we want to do is compromise him.”
Zou Tiger is a $2.30 top pick for the Tapp-Craig (1400m), a new $500,000 race designed as a lead up the Callander-Presnell (1600m), a revamped version of the former Stan Fox Stakes.
If Zou Tiger is scratched on Saturday, he is likely to go straight to the Callander-Presnell on October 22.
“We’d probably wait, trial him and run him in the big Group 2 mile,” O’Shea said.
“Hopefully the ground is better by then.”
While Zou Tiger is a doubtful runner, stablemate Zoukerino will take his place in Saturday’s Roman Consul Stakes (1200m) where he will have an important gear change.
After taking his record to two wins from as many starts in the Listed Rosebud, Zoukerino blotted his copybook when he failed to beat a rival home in the San Domenico Stakes.
O’Shea freshened him up and following a subsequent barrier trial test, he bit the bullet and put blinkers on the colt.
“We’d been toying with whether they should have been on earlier or not and the other day in his trial, I just thought he was a bit hesitant inside horses,” O’Shea said.
“He was getting away with it in lesser grade but as we go up in grade, we have to execute better.”
O’Shea has a healthy opinion of Zoukerino and given the colt won his first start on a bog track at Kensington, he has no problem starting him on Saturday.
“It’s not an issue for him. He won his first race start on a heavy 10,” he said.
The Roman Consul Stakes has traditionally been a springboard into the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington and O’Shea confirmed Zoukerino would head there if he performed well.
With the early scratchings of Kote and Chairman, a field of eight remain in contention for the Roman Consul Stakes led by speedy colt Best Of Bordeaux and Queenslander Nettuno, who is unbeaten in two starts on heavy ground.
