Zabmanzor dealing with dam’s unfinished business

After years of wondering what might have been with the unraced Zaborei, Roger James and his long-time clients John and Di Struthers have struck black-type gold with a son of the Savabeel mare.
Zabmanzor stepped up into black-type company in last week’s Gr. 3 Elsdon Park Wellington Stakes at Otaki and made a powerful statement, romping to a four-length victory in the $100,000 feature. It was the second win of a four-start career for the Almanzor colt, who had cleared maiden ranks by a similar margin at Tauranga on November 4.
“He was very impressive at Otaki,” said James, who trains in partnership with Robert Wellwood. “We’ve always really liked the horse, and hence we took him to the races in September after only one trial.
“He probably started out on tracks that were a little bit awkward for him, but we thought his first couple of runs were still pretty good.
“He then broke maidens quite impressively, and he showed in the Wellington Stakes that he’s growing up all the time. He still lost a little bit of concentration in the run home that day and was fairly green, but he was nevertheless able to win by a big margin.
“There was another margin back to third, and they ran good time. It was an exciting performance.
“The Struthers have been clients of mine over quite a long period of time now. We had He’s Remarkable for them a number of years ago, and it’s lovely to have another good horse for them.”
James went to Karaka in 2016 to buy a yearling for the Struthers, and he quickly zeroed in on Zabmanzor’s dam Zaborei. The Savabeel filly was offered in the draft of breeders Waikato Stud, and she is out of the O’Reilly mare Corsicana, a full-sister to Hera, who won the Gr. 2 Eight Carat Classic and Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic for James during the 2013-14 season.
“I bought Zabmanzor’s dam for the Struthers at Karaka, and I always thought she was just an absolute stunner,” James said.
“She was just the best-walking filly you could wish for, but unfortunately she had some developmental issues after the sales and never even made it to the trials.
“That was so disappointing for all of us, but it’s wonderful that John and Di have stuck with the ship, bred from the mare and got themselves such a promising three-year-old. It’s worked out very well in the end.”
James and Wellwood will now look to raise the bar even higher with Zabmanzor, starting with a tilt at the Gr. 1 Levin Classic on January 13. His Otaki win elevated him to the top of the TAB’s fixed odds market at $5 over his two-from-two stablemate December and New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner Molly Bloom at $8.
“The Levin Classic is the race that we’re targeting with him at this stage,” James confirmed. “I’d say it’s likely that we’ll actually go straight there without another run in between. That will make it about six weeks between races, but we don’t think that will be an issue.
“There’s every chance that he’ll be able to go a bit further than a mile after that, which is why we’ll try to avoid packing too many runs into him at this point of his preparation.”
Zabmanzor is not surprisingly high in New Zealand Derby calculations even before next week’s initial entries deadline. As a straight bay look-alike of his sire Almanzor, he has played a starring role in a strong spring for the Cambridge Stud shuttle, who has had 17 winners in New Zealand this season and another 13 in Australia.
Zabmanzor is the first stakes winner in New Zealand this season for the son of Wooton Bassett, who has also been represented by the ultra-impressive two-race winner Adam I Am, along with Mary Shan, who was second in the Gr. 2 Soliloquy Stakes and a close last-start fifth in the Gr. 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas. Fellow three-year-old Geriatrix finished fourth behind Zabmanzor in the Wellington Stakes.
Almanzor’s best performer in the Australian spring has been the French-bred Athabascan. In Sydney the John O’Shea-trained gelding won the Gr. 3 Colin Stephen Quality and Listed Tattersalls Club Cup and at his most recent start was runner-up in the Gr. 3 Lexus Archer Stakes at Flemington.
John Struthers and fellow Auckland retiree Rod Baulcomb were partners in the talented galloper He’s Remarkable, whose racetrack achievements are probably best remembered for his controversial relegation after winning the 2011 Gr. 1 Railway Stakes in Perth.
Earlier on last Thursday’s Otaki programme, Baulcomb and Struthers celebrated further success together with the James/Wellwood-trained Pizzazz when Masa Hashizume – who also partnered Zabmanzor – brought the Vadamos mare through the inside from last on the home turn for an easy win.