Lightly raced 5yo Flying Spur gelding Zupatwo notched up his second win from just 19 starts at Mildura this afternoon in the Euston Resort 0-58 Handicap over 1400m.
The Kylie Vella trained gelding carried 58.5 kilos to victory thanks to a masterful ride by Steven Vella who stuck to the inside and didn’t have to go around a horse scoring comfortably by 2.3 lengths, defeating Kirsten Mcgowan trained The Enterprise with Jenette Burgess trained outsider Motion House back in third after setting the early tempo.
After being purchased in the 2010 Inglis Great Southern Sale by the Butler family for $5,000 and nearly 12 months in the paddock, Zupatwo had a handful of average runs with the John Symons & Sheila Laxon stable. After another spell, the owners opted to take Zupatwo to a new trainer, joining Kylie Vella’s stable in Ballarat in November 2010.
The win ended a frustrating run of outs, with Zupatwo last greeting the judge back in April 2009 also over 1400m. Zupatwo had been luckless this prep, striking rain affected ground several times when well fancied in the market. “He’s been unlucky with wet tracks and it was just a matter of getting him on the right track and with the right run we knew he’d be thereabouts “said a jubilant Kylie Vella in the post-race interview.
A 10 out of 10 ride by Steven Vella, paying $7.20 on Super-Tab, “he’s got a lot of ability but had a lot of problems. A hard track today, he’s always showed potential, 1400 to a mile will probably suit him “said Steve.
Written by Xavier Blair
