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Daughter of Zed looking to add a seventh Group 1 victory to her resume  

James McDonald is confident of his chances aboard Verry Elleegant (Zed) in Saturday’s Chipping Norton Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) as the mare looks to add a seventh Group 1 victory to her record. 

The Chris Waller-trained Verry Elleegant finished two and a quarter lengths third in her first-up run in the Apollo Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) two weeks ago, with McDonald onboard, and he believes that she will be hard to beat on Saturday. 

“She was fantastic,” McDonald told Sky Sports Radio. “She got in an awkward spot and it wasn’t her sort of race in terms of set-up – it was slow off the front and they sprinted home.

“She made very good ground late and I was impressed with the way she came back. She will be very hard to beat (on Saturday).”

McDonald said the track conditions will ideally suit Verry Elleegant, with the Sydney track rated a Soft6 on Wednesday, with rain forecast in the lead-up to the weekend. However, he warned many of her rivals will also appreciate the rain-affected track.

“All of those older horses are in the same boat. They all want a bit of cut out of the ground and they are all going to get that,” he said.

“It makes for a good race and she will be better once she gets to a mile and a quarter, a mile and a half.

“She has got to build to get there, but she is definitely good enough to win.”