Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Zarak maintains unbeaten record at Maisons-Laffitte


Zarak, the first foal of Zarkava to see racecourse action, was cut to 16-1 for the Investec Derby by RaceBets after maintaining his unbeaten record at Maisons-Laffitte.
Trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, just like the great mare, the Aga Khan-owned colt is by super stallion Dubawi.
A winner in heavy ground at Deauville on his only start at two, Christophe Soumillon appeared at pains to give him as easy a race as possible in the Prix de la Croix de Chavaux.
As a result, the winning margin was under a length but he was probably value for a bit more over George Patton.
The race was a prep for the French 2000 Guineas, for which RaceBets cut him to 13-2 from 15-2.
The same firm also trimmed him to 15-2 from 10-1 for the Prix du Jockey Club, the French Derby.
The Aga Khan's racing manager Georges Rimaud said: "We are very pleased he won and I don't think he'd have been at the top of his form, there's certainly room for improvement.
"We're pleased he stayed unbeaten and now he's heading for the French Guineas on May 15.
"He'll possibly stay 10 furlongs but at this stage that is not the aim, he shows a lot of speed. He had to accelerate twice to win today.
"That was a good trial, the second had won twice and they were nicely clear. The second probably wasn't at his best either and we'll probably meet again at some stage which will be interesting.
"We have a situation this year where the French Guineas is unusually going to be on a straight course at Deauville so there were not many suitable trials.
"We'll just take it one step at a time with him, any horse of his calibre you'd have to enter for Epsom but we'll just have to see how he goes in the Guineas.
"After his next race we might have a better idea which direction we are going in."
Zarkava also produced a colt by Sea The Stars, but he suffered a fatal injury as a three-year-old.

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