Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions
Written by Georgie Dennis
The Chris Waller-trained Zarastro (I Am Invincible) was hugely impressive at Randwick on Tuesday, winning a 1045 metre trial for 2-year-olds by 1.3l.
The 2-year-old colt was having his second public outing after finishing second to subsequent Magic Millions Clockwise Classic winner Readily Availabull (Bull Point) and settled just off the leader but showed a strong turn of foot in the last 200 metres and went on to win with the minimum of fuss.
Part-owned by Coolmore, Zarastro was purchased by Chris Waller Racing and Mulcaster Bloodstock for $1,050,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale but despite showing plenty of raw talent, the Magic Millions 2YO Classic might come up too soon with the colt still learning his craft.
Zarastro as a yearling
“The team loved him at Magic Millions, he’s a very good-looking horse and he’s obviously got a good pedigree so he was an obvious buy,” Coolmore Racing Manager Rob Archibald told TDN AusNZ.
“The team loved him at Magic Millions, he’s a very good-looking horse and he’s obviously got a good pedigree so he was an obvious buy." - Rob Archibald
“He’s just very good looking and very athletic but he’s always been a bit of a work in progress because he tends to overdo it and you can see that there was big improvement from his first trial to his second. He was a lot more settled and Chris has obviously done a good job to get him to that point.
“He’s been talented from day one and he’s always stood out. He’s just been brought along slowly because he's probably the sort of horse that if he’s not managed the right way, he could probably go the wrong way.”
Zarastro was born in November, making him quite a late foal and Archibald said a decision was still to be made on whether he is ready to head to the races but whatever he does now, he will only improve on as he matures.
“I think he’s certainly got the early talent to be a 2-year-old and you’d like to think that wherever he goes to the races, he’s going to be competitive but I think mentally, he’s just not quite there yet,” Archibald said.
“Chris will obviously weigh all of that up and he will decide if he wants to go to the races or if he wants to wait a little bit longer.
“He is a late foal but in terms of ability, he has certainly got an abundance of that and it will be more if Chris thinks he’s mentally ready to handle the occasion or not and that’s really what it will come down to because there’s no question that the ability is there.”
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott also presented a talented juvenile at the Randwick trials on Tuesday with Summerbeel (NZ) (Savabeel) posting a comfortable victory in a 735 metre heat for 2-year-old fillies.
Having her second public trial, the daughter of Savabeel was fast out of the barriers and went straight to the lead under Brenton Avdulla before quickening up nicely in the straight and going on to win by 2l.
Summerbeel was a NZ$310,0000 purchase at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale by Waterhouse and Bott and GPI Racing from the Waikato Stud draft and she is out of winning Street Cry (Ire) mare Summer School (Ire).
The filly’s third dam - Group 3 winner Allez Les Trois (USA) (Riverman {USA}) - is a three-quarter sister to champion stallions Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire), while this is also the family of G1 Irish Derby winner Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}).
Watch: Summerbeel (NZ) parade as a yearling
