Lofty plans have been set for the star trio of black-type performers by Inglewood Stud’s exciting young sire Zacinto, with Ugo Foscolo, Odeon and Zigwig all looking towards Group One targets this spring.
Hot off being crowned New Zealand’s Leading Second Sire by both earnings and winners, Zacinto will have his Group One winning son Ugo Foscolo initially target the G1 Epsom Handicap in Sydney before a tilt at either the G1 Cox Plate or the G1 Emirates Stakes in Melbourne.
Now prepared in Sydney by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, last season’s G1 NZ Two Thousand Guineas winner showed that he is back and better than ever this morning with a nine length demolition of a Randwick trial made up entirely of black-type horses.
While it was Ugo Foscolo flying the flag for Zacinto last spring, it was the Melbourne trained Odeon that was leading the way for Zacinto in the autumn.
The Simon Zahra and Mathew Ellerton trained gelding scored four wins through the season highlighted by victories in the Mornington Guineas, before beating the older horses over 2000m at Caulfield. A third placing in the G1 South Australia Derby then showed Odeon is perhaps best placed over middle distances which is where his focus will be this spring.
The flashy youngster will kick off his spring campaign in the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield in late September before tackling the G1 Toorak Handicap (1600), also at Caulfield, a fortnight later.
On the home front, a Group One target sits as the ultimate aim for Zacinto’s talented filly Zigwig. A winner of two in a row in the autumn before things went awry in the New Zealand Oaks, the mare will be another kept to shorter trips this spring with the G3 Valachi Downs Canterbury Breeders Stakes her first aim, before all going well a tilt at the G1 Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham in December.
“It’s certainly going to be an exciting spring,” says Inglewood Stud’s Gus Wigley.
“He’s got his headline acts targeting the Group Ones, but he has several other winners from last season targeting black-type in the spring as well.
“They seem to be getting better with time, and it’s nice to see connections being patient with his second crop.
“That said, he already has a number of his second crop showing promise. He had an extremely impressive trial winner at Rangiora last month that has since been sold and will head to Te Akau’s Singapore stable, while the Shaun Ritchie trained Zenvo demolished them in a trial at Waipa a couple of weeks ago and looks a very talented filly. Over in Melbourne Simon Zahra and Mathew Ellerton who train Odeon, also have a two-year-old called Into Rio that they rate very highly.”
With the stud season now just a month away, Wigley confirms that Zacinto will again cover another bumper book of mares from his Inglewood Stud base.
“On the back of such a good Classic season by his first crop he’ll cover another really good book this season, but he’s not quite full yet so there’s still an opportunity to bred to him in 2017 for those breeders interested,” Wigley said.