The search for a dry track for Group One winner Zabeelionaire has switched from Brisbane to Flemington where the horse is entered for Saturday’s Gala Supreme Handicap.
Since he won the South Australian Derby in May last year, trainer Leon Corstens has experienced a frustrating run with Zabeelionaire that continued in Queensland.
The four-year-old hasn’t won in 14 months and didn’t get much chance to alter that record thanks to consistently wet tracks in Queensland.
“I’m really happy with the horse but he’s a bit of a drought breaker,” Corstens said.
“The owners sunk a fortune into the horse going to Queensland but we had to scratch him three times because of wet tracks.
“He’ll run on Saturday if everything goes right during the week and we don’t get a wet track.”
Chances are Corstens and Zabeelionaire will get the track they want at Flemington where the track drainage is such that the only prospect of anything worse than a dead rating in recent months has been rain during a meeting.
“The chances of him running are pretty good and the chances that he’ll get back to form aren’t bad either,” Corstens said.
In his latest Flemington run Zabeelionaire finished third carrying 59.5kg behind Whisper Downs on May 4 and at his most recent start he finished last of six behind Quintessential in the Group Two Eagle Farm Cup (2200m) on June 1.
Also nominated for the Gala Supreme (2000m) are the talented stayer Exceptionally and the enigmatic Chris Waller-trained runner Illo who is also entered for a 2000m race at Rosehill.
Source : AAP
