Three year old sprinting sensation Zoustyle will be tested against the older horses when he contests the Group 2 $200,000 Sky Racing Moreton Cup (1200m) at Doomben on June 1.
Trainer Tony Gollan, above, will set Zoustyle for the Moreton Cup at Eagle Farm. Photo by Daniel Costello.
Trainer Tony Gollan has all but ruled out a start in the Group 1 $1.5m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm the following week and is instead leaning towards keeping Zoustyle against his own age in the Listed $125,000 Kirin Daybreak Lover (1200m) on the same day.
“The Stradbroke won’t be his next start, maybe the Moreton Cup the week before. Maybe we won’t worry about the Stradbroke and maybe go the Daybreak Lover on Stradbroke Day,” Gollan told racing.com’s After The Last.
Zoustyle has created a great impression after he kept his unbeaten record intact with his sixth win from six starts with an all the way win in the $105,000 JRA 3yo Plate (1200m) at Doomben last Saturday.
Gollan has reported that Zoustyle has pulled up in great order with plenty of improvement ahead of him.
“He was really good. He just raced a little fresh early. He threw his head up in the air and lost his stride, which was a little bit concerning, but overall, he got the job done really well,” Gollan said.”
“You can see the last half a furlong he was getting a little bit fatigued, but he had them well and truly held by that stage with his overall speed.”
“He was really good. You would imagine with five months in between runs he would have plenty of improvement in him race day and hopefully we will see that in him next start.”
Gollan was posed the question how far does he thinks Zoustyle can go and he said that he was unsure at this stage but added that he still has a lot of improvement ahead of him.
“How good he is going to be and how good he is? I am not really sure,” Gollan said.
“We are nowhere near the bottom of him yet I don’t think. I think he is better this prep than he was last time. Every race he has been in has been a little bit tougher.”
“I think he has a fair bit ahead of him still. Physically he is still developing as well. He is quite a big leggy animal and he is slowly starting to fill into that big frame.”
“I am not sure how good he is yet. He is very talented and I still think he quite untapped.”
Zoustyle is still listed in the market order for the Stradbroke Handicap and is on the third line of betting at $9 with Ladbrokes.com.au.
The Doomben 10,000 winner The Bostonian is the current $7.50 favourite ahead of the James Cummings trained pair of Home Of The Brave and Trekking at $8.
Early betting for the 2019 Stradbroke Handicap at Ladbrokes.com.au: $7.50 The Bostonian, $8 Home Of The Brave, Trekking, $9 Zoustyle, $11 Encryption, Tyzone, $12 Dollar For Dollar, $13 Con Te Partiro, Outback Barbie, Victorem, $15 Chapter And Verse, Despatch, I Am Excited, Iconoclasm, Ringerdingding, Viridine, Zoutori, $17 Boomsara, Noble Boy, Plague Stone, Spright, Widgee Turf, $21 Archedemus, Gem Song, Invincibella, Vega One, $26 or better the rest.
