Smart stayer has cups in his sights
18 Nov 2016Zambezi Warrior’s victory at today's New Plymouth twilight meeting may prove to be a springboard to feature race success.
“This was a stepping stone to his next couple of runs,” said Stephen Autridge, who prepares the four-year-old with Jamie Richards.
“We’ll look at those qualifying races for the Dunstan final and he could also end up in a nice cup race with a light weight. We really like him.”
Zambezi Warrior had been a first-up winner this preparation before he was unplaced at Ellerslie.
“He copped two or three different lots of interference so you could just forget that run,” Autridge said.
Runner-up last term in the Gr.2 Championship Stakes, the son of Pentire has now won four of his 11 starts.
Zambezi Warrior was purchased out of Goodwood Stud’s 2014 Premier Sale draft to Karaka for $75,000 by Te Akau principal David Ellis.
Out of the winning Zabeel mare Zambezi, he was bred by Goodwood in partnership with Fairdale Stud.