French
bred Zoffany gelding Carzoff (Fr) gave champion trainer Chris Waller another
feature race win when taking out the $200,000 Group III Newcastle Cup on
Friday.
A progressive gelding working his way through the grades, Carzoff (image Steve Hart) was a last
start winner of the Wyong Cup and kept up the good work here. He scored a
tenacious long neck win in the 2300 metre staying test as favourite.
"He's in a really good space the horse," said winning rider Kerrin McEvoy.
"He's loving travelling around there on the bridle and being the last one
off the bridle and getting the splits just fills him with confidence.
"He's showed that his last couple of runs so it was pleasing to see him do
that today over an extra furlong."
Bought from Europe as a tried horse, Carzoff runs for a big group of stable
clients and carries the colours of part-owner Nick Vass.
He has won five races and placed eight times from 23 starts earning over $464,000
in prizemoney.
Stable representative Liam Prior confirmed the Group I ATC Metropolitan (2400m)
at Randwick later this month was Carzoff's likely target.
"I was quite impressed with that at 2300 which he hasn't done
before," Prior said.
"I don't know what the boss is thinking but I suppose the Metropolitan
Handicap lines up now in a fortnight and that's probably where he deserves to
be heading."
Carzoff is by Dansili stallion Zoffany (IRE), who shuttled to Coolmore for four
seasons covering 213 mares in his last year 2015, so has a big crop of two
year-olds to run here this season.
Zoffany has hit a real purple patch in the Northern Hemisphere with his current
crop of two year-olds that has already produced five stakes-winners headed by
Group II winner Fleeting and Group III winner Main Edition.
Carzoff is the best of two winners from Mark of Esteem mare Cartama, who comes
from the family of highly successful Kiwi based sire Pentire (GB).