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A well-rated ride by Michael Rodd saw King Zoustar bounce back to the winner’s circle in easier grade on Friday night.
The Lee Freedman-trained three-year-old should have finished a lot closer to the winner Reach For The Sun at his last start in a Class 4 event over 1200m a month ago, if not for a bad check at the 750m mark when Star Empire lost his rider John Sundradas.
There was no such hiccup in the $38,000 Kranji Stakes D Division 2 race over 1200m this time – a smart jump, hold his ground on the rails, and just blank out the pesky presence of Alaranch (Azhar Ismail) and Cerdan (Vlad Duric) on his outside.
With the son of Zoustar travelling on the bridle throughout, it was clear Rodd had succeeded in saving his mount for that last dash.
That impression was confirmed when they easily shook off Alaranch and Cerdan upon straightening, but the $17 shot was not out of the woods yet.
Favourite Everybody Happy (Noh Senari) had in the meantime been angled out for his run when popped the question at the 300m while Silver Sky (Saifudin Ismail) was also jumping out of the ground on the outside.
But in a close go to the wire, King Zoustar had enough petrol left in the tank to outlast Silver Sky by half-a-length with Everybody Happy, given every conceivable chance, but not quite up to the task in the final 100m, settling for third place another nose away. The winning time was 1min 10.49secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
Freedman said that King Zoustar was no superstar but was not entirely without ability in his right grade.
“He was back to Kranji Stakes D tonight, which is an easier class for him,” he said.
“He’s not a bad horse, we just need to place him in the right race.”
Raced by the Lucky Unicorn Stable, King Zoustar, who was at his eighth outing, has now almost doubled his bank account to around $40,000, having earned the first paycheque from his previous maiden win last September with Rodd up as well.
“I took a sit on him and he fought on very well, and he did it on the Long Course which is never easy,” said Rodd.
“He’s a nice horse but is still very immature, he’s still learning his trade. I reckon he’s better off taking a sit.
“It’s good he’s won tonight. He should be able to win back in Class 4, we’ll see what happens.”
