The one time scruffy weanling that emerged to challenge the mighty Via Sistina (IRE) in the Group I VRC Champions Stakes was one of the finds of the spring, how far can he go?
Exciting four-year-old Zambardo was one of the stories of the spring, progressing from relative obscurity to Group One company in a matter of months.
Originally prepared in Ashburton in New Zealand’s South Island, the son of Belardo came from modest beginnings.
Sold as a weanling for just $3100 via gavelhouse.com to trainer Emma Wyatt, Zambardo, who raced as Our Martian in New Zealand, was a trial winner and twice placed at Ashburton before he was identified by astute bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo and traded to the stable of Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr.
“He looked like a scruffy weanling when he got down here,” Wyatt recalled.
“It was in the winter and he wasn't much to look at to be fair, but I just liked his breeding, which was what caught my eye.”
Out of the winning Zabeel mare Zambezi, who in turn is out of triple Group One winner Tall Poppy, Zambardo is a half-brother to Group Two placed stayer Zambezi Warrior.
“Time was his friend, and he grew out at my parent’s place,” Wyatt said.
“When he had his first proper prep, I thought he was one of the nicest horses I've ever sat on. But he was also a real smart arse. When we were getting him ready for the trials he would still try to drop his head and pig root.”
Zambardo had just the one trial which he won, but he was still wayward and Wyatt admitted she was hoping to educate him further before his raceday debut.
“The trials kept getting cancelled at the time, so we sent him to the races and used it like a trial, and he ran third in both starts before his sale.”
Purchased by a syndicate headed by prominent owner Carl Holt, the gelding was re-named Zambardo and joined the Price-Kent stable where he made an inauspicious start.
“We bought him, he came across here and no joke, he went in the wind right away and was untrainable,” Kent Jnr told Radio TAB.
“The owners were a bit upset about whether we did our due diligence, which we did. But throats are degenerative issues. They get worse over time, and it came out of nowhere.
“Because of the lack of oxygen getting into his lungs, he was very hot-tempered. He was untrainable. He used to go sideways.
“We did a tie-forward operation, which is probably the lesser of the two main throat ops, and it's been amazing. He's a different horse. He can breathe properly, he is super-relaxed, professional, easy to train and clearly the throat is working.”
Runner-up on Australian debut in August, Zambardo progressed from a maiden victory on the Pakenham synthetic to win a further three races in succession before stepping steeply in grade to beat all bar Via Sistina in the Gr.1 Champions Stakes (2000m) on the final day of the Flemington carnival.
Zambardo netted connections a whopping $540,000 in prize money for that second-placing but has leapt from a 78 rater to 104.
“I don't think is too bad,” Kent Jnr said. “Some people were thinking we might go higher than that because he split Via Sistina (125) and Tom Kitten (114), but they don't normally punish you too much when you go in off those low ratings.
“The track was very heavy which was an unknown, other than we've trained a few Belardos now and they all love it. And as Mick says, ‘Kiwis, they're born in it’.”
Kent Jnr drew some parallels with versatile Group One gallopers Mr Brightside and I’m Thunderstruck, who similarly came from modest beginnings in New Zealand.
“It's a remarkable country. I think they have a foal crop of around 2700 and they've got a lot of good horses in Australia at the moment,” he said.
“Horses like Jimmysstar, Gringotts, Ceowulf and Antino, plus of course Ka Ying Rising, it’s phenomenal really.”
Zambardo is still in the spelling paddock, but his trainers are delighted with the way he has continued to furnish.
“He had six runs in his first racing campaign with us, culminating in a very heavy track gutsy performance and Group One second to Via Sistina,” Kent Jnr said.
“It took a lot out of him and when planning a program for him, the Australian Cup (Gr.1, 2000m) appeared an obvious option.
“But I think that race comes around a little too quickly, so doing the right thing by the horse, if he had a normal six to eight week spell, that probably lands him in a Sydney-Queensland campaign.
“Depending on how he comes up and what level we want to target, races like the Doomben Cup (Gr.1, 2000m) and the Q22 could suit.
“It could be a lovely way to give him the break he deserves but also launch his spring carnival off the back of that, but that is all still to be determined.”
Despite the heavy track placing, Kent Jnr is confident Zambardo is a good level horse but he is keen to see him replicate that performance.
“He was just winning races so easily, getting to the front and pricking his ears and clocking off,” he said.
“Credit to Mick, it was his idea to throw him in the deep end and give him something to properly chase down and gee he was tough.
“We didn’t get to the outside of the track like we wanted to and often they just give up but he just kept sticking on.
“Possibly a nice handicap might be in his grasp but he has probably got to go and do it again to prove he is a genuine weight-for-age horse, but who is to say he can’t.
“We just know how much improvement there is in the horse and he has been going the right way in the spelling paddock. Even Phill Cataldo, who found him, wouldn’t recognise him.” – NZ Racing Desk
