Peter Snowden’s remarkable association with the Hawkesbury stand-alone card persists, with the Gold Rush now joining his roster of prominent victories delivered by the skilled sprinter Zealously.
Snowden has championed the meeting right from its launch, accumulating seven Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) wins and five Guineas (1400m) triumphs en route to 18 total successes in the key events of the day.
In Saturday’s $200,000 Hawkesbury Gold Rush (1100m), $4 market leader Zealously commanded from the front and repelled allcomers to prevail by 1-1/2 lengths over $10 shot Bev’s Nine, ahead of third-placed Monte Supreme ($7), as those from further back couldn’t advance notably.
Snowden expressed joy at the four-year-old achieving stakes level success, having felt uneasy when the going looked “doughy” initially, as the horse performs best on firmer turf.
“I was a little bit worried when I saw the track today. You wouldn’t want it any wetter for him,” Snowden said.
“But I thought he’d be able to control the speed and when he got a soft sectional between the 400 and the corner, he was going to be hard to beat.”
Zealously is set to skip the Scone carnival in favour of winter targets in Brisbane.
Several races await the sprinter in Queensland, contingent on dry surfaces.
“I think we will look at Brisbane with him now,” he said.
“I’ve got Fire Star and King Of Sparta for Scone, so I’m just trying to spread them around.”
Tom Sherry partnered Zealously and observed the horse’s increased maturity this time in and improved race relaxation.
“Once he can control a race like that, he’s always going to be very competitive,” Sherry said.
“I feel as though he’s relaxing a lot better this preparation than in his previous ones, which will stand him in good stead going forward.”
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