Zacada (NZ) Too Tough in Rotorua Cup

Group 1 performer Zacada (NZ) (Zabeel), who could have been bought for $150,000 as a yearling at Karaka in 2014, has taken his prize-money earnings past $700,000.

The milestone came through a tough weight-carrying performance in Saturday’s $75,000 Group 3 Campbell Infrastructure Rotorua Cup (2200m), winning under the top weight of 60 kilograms.

Ridden by Jonathan Riddell, the six-year-old was slowly away but moved up into seventh spot with about 1600 metres to run.

Riddell stuck to the rail rounding the home turn, and Zacada surged through on the inside of the front-running Gobstopper (NZ) (Tavistock) to score by a head.

“He looked the winner a long way out,” co-trainer Andrew Forsman said. “He was the class horse of the field on his day, and I don’t think the weight was going to be an issue.

“If he was on his game, he was going to be hard to beat today. His two gallops this week have been first-class, and we were confident in that, just knowing that he had to bring his A-game to the races.”

Raced by Andari Ltd, Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan, Zacada has now had 43 starts for five wins, 13 placings and $712,655 in stakes. That’s almost five times his $150,000 reserve at the 2014 Premier Sale.

The Rotorua Cup was his second stakes win, having previously won the Group 2 Avondale Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie. He also finished second in last year’s A$2 million Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m), narrowly beaten in a photo finish.