Princess Zoe out to tee up Ascot Gold Cup bid at Gowran
Tony Mullins hoping to see ‘big improvement’ from star mare in Vintage Tipple Stakes.
Tony Mullins expects to see a “big improvement” from Princess Zoe when she makes her second start of the season in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Vintage Tipple Stakes at Gowran Park on Wednesday. The daughter of Jukebox Jury enjoyed a meteoric rise after being bought from Germany last year, progressing from a mark of 64 when second on her Irish debut at Navan in June to claim top-level honours in the Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend in Paris. While she came up short in her bid for a sixth successive win in the Prix Royal-Oak, she was far from disgraced in finishing fourth behind the Mark Johnston-trained Subjectivist – and she was well fancied to make a winning return in last month’s Noblesse Stakes at Cork.Unbelievable mare, unbelievable performance!
Princess Zoe extraordinarily wins the Group 1 Qatar Prix du Cadran for @tonymullins84 and @joeysheridan8 at @paris_longchamp pic.twitter.com/FGG4nZhN8z — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 3, 2020
Princess Zoe was ultimately disappointing in beating just one rival home, but Mullins is confident a combination of improved fitness, softer ground and a step up in trip will see his stable star in a much better light ahead of a planned tilt at the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. “I’m hoping that the ground stays yielding to soft and the extra two furlongs should make a difference,” said the trainer. “She’s getting fitter all the time. This will be her last run before the Ascot Gold Cup and I’m hoping to see a big improvement from Cork. “It was a funny-run race at Cork. I thought they went very slow early on, which certainly wouldn’t play to our stamina strengths. “I’m hoping it will be different (on Wednesday). She’s got to give away weight, but she’s going to have to do that all the time now apart from in Group Ones – we can’t avoid it.”
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