Zestful savaged the line late to deliver trainer Kris Lees a 2017 Apollo Stakes Day treble with her win in the Triscay Stakes at Royal Randwick this afternoon.
Zestful produced an explosive turn-of-foot late to win the 2017 Triscay Stakes at Royal Randwick this afternoon. Photo by: Steve Hart
There was plenty of money for Zestful in the lead-up to the Triscay Stakes, but it looked as though it was going to be her day when she was blocked for a run at the 300 metre mark.
Jason Collett had several runs close on him before the 200 metre mark, but he eventually found clear running back on the inside and she finished over the top of Nancy and Dixie Blossoms to record a career best win.
Lees had previously won the Group 3 Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) with Le Romain as well as the Group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m) with Invincible Gem and he was clearly delighted to have finished Apollo Stakes Day with three black-type wins.
“It is important for these mares to race well in these type of races,” Lees said.
“They are well-bred mares and you need to be performing in Stakes races, so it is very satisfying.
“I’ve always thought that she has a lot of upside to her and she is going the right way.
“She really appreciates a gap between her runs and she just needed a little bit of luck in running.
“She was always going to be strong late.
“It looked a bit ugly there for a while, but he found the right path and got there when it mattered.
“She was going to be my Provincial Championships horses, but I will have to reassess.”
Collett admitted after the race that not everything went to plan during the Triscay Stakes and he thought that he was in trouble when he had to make the inside run at the 200 metre mark.
A relieved Collet was clearly pleased that Zestful was able to find the line like she did and he paid full credit to the way that she was able to balance up in such an efficient manner.
“I got on the back of Nancy and I was pretty happy, but I just sort of lost contact in the straight,” Collett said.
“It was a big effort and I have to admit that I wasn’t very confident at the 200 when I went back to the inside.
“I really had to shift ground very quickly and for her to come back under me like that says a fair bit about her.”
Nancy was unlucky not to come away with the victory first-up and Dixie Blossoms produced her usual credible performance.
2017 Triscay Stakes Results & Finishing Order
Randwick Race 9 – 13/02/2017
| Place | # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Br. | Wgt. | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | ZESTFUL | Kris Lees | Jason Collett | – | 1 | 53kg (cd 53.5kg) | $4.20 |
| 2 | 3 | NANCY | Peter & Paul Snowden | Hugh Bowman | 0.2L | 7 | 57kg | $9 |
| 3 | 1 | DIXIE BLOSSOMS | Ron Quinton | Tim Clark | 0.3L | 9 | 59kg | $4F |
| 4 | 7 | PRESS REPORT | Kris Lees | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 0.6L | 6 | 53kg | $17 |
| 5 | 12 | QUEEN OF KARIBA | Joseph Pride | Andrew Adkins (a) | 2.2L | 3 | 53kg | $31 |
| 6 | 5 | ROCKET COMMANDER | Matthew Dale | Tommy Berry | 3L | 4 | 55kg | $26 |
| 7 | 13 | MAGIC OF DREAMS | Kris Lees | Corey Brown | 3.1L | 10 | 53kg | $21 |
| 8 | 14 | ZARA BAY | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Jay Ford | 6.1L | 2 | 53kg | $8.50 |
| 9 | 6 | SHILLELAGH (NZ) | Chris Waller | Brenton Avdulla | 6.2L | 11 | 53kg | $6 |
| 10 | 16 | UNKNOWN DESTINY | John Ramsey | Blaike McDougall (a) | 9.7L | 8 | 53kg | $151 |
| FF | 2 | PEARLS | John O’Shea | James Doyle | – | 5 | 58kg | $7 |
| – | 8 | DENPURR | Peter & Paul Snowden | – | – | 0 | – | – |
| – | 15 | SORORITY SISTER | Garry Schwenke | – | – | 0 | – | – |
| – | 9 | YATTARNA | James Cummings | Glyn Schofield | – | 0 | – | – |
| – | 11 | AMERISTRALIA | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Andrew Adkins (a) | – | 0 | – | – |
| – | 4 | SAVOUREUX | Kris Lees | Joshua Parr | – | 0 | – | – |
