Impeccably bred Zarkamiya, a filly by Frankel out of Zarkava, has made a stylish winning debut in the Prix de la Lancette at ParisLongchamp.
You would have to travel a long way to find a horse with better breeding than the filly trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre and it appears the apple has not fallen far from the tree.
Both her parents were unbeaten, with Frankel excelling over a mile (1600m) and 10 furlongs (2000m), while Zarkava won the Prix Vermeille and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe over a mile-and-a-half.
Settled midfield by Christophe Soumillon, she was briefly flat footed when the pace quickened, but eventually drew away for a comfortable success in the one-mile contest.
Zarkamiya is the sixth of nine foals to date for Zarkava, with only one previously making the track, the Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Zarak, who is now a stallion himself. Zarkava also has a two-year-old by Invincible Spirit and a yearling by Siyouni.
“It’s very pleasant what it does! She had a beautiful passage,” Royer-Dupre told Equidia.
“It was quite a prolonged effort because she got going quite early and the filly who was on her right did not falter.
“You can also see that she is still a little round. She is not at maximum condition. I think I’m going to step her up in trip. Looking at her breeding there is no surprise she is hot blooded so it is necessary to space her races out.
“We must not try to take too many rungs of the ladder too soon.”
