PROMISING: Zorro can hold his own in better company.
KUCHING: Nobody got it from the horse’s mouth, so it came as no big surprise that newcomer Zorro was passed over with a just cursory glance when it arrived at the Sarawak Turf and Equestrian Club (STEC) with the first batch of seven ponies from Sabah recently.
Without a conformation to speak of, the four-year-old brown pony is not exactly what you would call the stuff of champions. But judge not a horse on his “outside” because it’s the “inside” that counts.
And for Zorro, what he lacks on the outside is amply compensated by what he got on the inside – that’s the heart to win.
The Sara Stable’s racer showed this quality when he came from midfield to register his maiden win by 6 1/2 lengths in Class Four (1000M) on the First Day of the Second Meeting on April 15.
Few expected him to break the ice so soon — let alone in such a convincing manner — but those who went for a flutter picked up a good RM48 payout.
After that impressive showing, Zorro reportedly sustained a hoof injury and there were even talks he might be scratched on the Second Day (22.4.2012). But it turned out to be nothing serious.
Despite promotion to Class Three after his tear-away first up win, he was under double wraps again on the second weekend over 1200M, winning by a distance in a time of 1:58.4 — better than the Class Two time of 2:4.8 by Princess Alicia – despite giving 6kg to the latter.
With two easy wins under his belt in as many starts, Zorro is set to race in better company soon. He certainly looks capable of giving the higher class ponies a run for their money and has – for good measure — also shown it’s unwise to judge a horse on looks alone because it could well turn out to be a horse of a different colour on the race track.
The other newcomers were far from disappointing.
Elturius, a three-year-old roan, won on the second weekend in Class Four (1200M) after finishing third in his debut in the same class the week before while Bintang Kilong, a three-year-old bay, who was promoted to Class Three after finishing second in Class Four (1200M) on the first weekend,
ran two creditable seconds from two starts and, like Elturius, is on the upgrade. Both runners should be even better when they are fully acclimatised to local racing conditions.
Puteri Dang Balai who finished out of board in Class Four (1000M) on the first weekend, showed marked improvement in the same class the following week when she lost to Elturius by half length after a keen tussle. The four-year-old looks destined for the winner’s circle soon.
Budak Kampung held on for third in Class Four (1000M) on the first weekend after looking a distinct possibliltydown the home straight but was eased up about 150M out. The six-year-old pulled up lame and was scratched on the second weekend. His present condition is not known.
Rhodium was again the undisputed star of the Second Meeting. After crushing the Class one field on the first weekend, the five-year-old put up another masterful display a week later to preserve his perfect record.
Taken out wide for the run by Roslan Bujang, the strapping grey blasted down the homestraight for another big-margin victory – his seventh in a row.
Switching Rhodium to the outside was a smart tactical move by Roslan. That part of track was not as badly chopped up in the heavy going and Rhodium skimmed the drier surface to make the day for Berjaya Stable.
Roslan adopted similar tactics to great effect on Princess Alicia in Race Four (Class Two – 1200M).
The six-year-old coasted home right on the outside, winning by a street to atone for her loss to Naga Mas in a blanket finish on the first weekend.
Commended on riding two well-judged races, Roslan said: “The outside track was better and I went for it. I am happy things worked out right.”
On Rhodium, he said his mount was able to quicken on the firmer outside track and put lengths between him and the others over the final 300M.
But Roslan was quick to add: “The pony too good lah.”
Rhodium will still win more races and only weight will break the all-conquering grey’s winning sequence.
Meanwhile, the first race will start at 10am (instead of 9.30am) from the next meeting on June 17 and 24. This is to enable race-goers more time to come to the races.
The STEC has also decided the hold the races over 1000M (instead of 1200M) from the June Meeting.
“This distance (1000M) is more suitable for our breed of ponies. Before, we often had runners finishing as far behind as 200M in a 1200M race. We hope to correct this by restricting the races to 1000M. We are trying to make racing more competitive,” a top STEC official said.