Zand

Zand put up a really nice performance on his racecourse debut to chase home the useful looking Pearl Music in the opening two-year-old maiden at The Curragh on Irish St Leger day on Saturday, a contest that was won last year by Imperial Monarch.

John Oxx’s colt raced in the middle of the field under Christophe Lemaire, and he appeared to do things easily through the first half of the race, but he seemed to get caught a little flat-footed when they picked up, perhaps through inexperience. He was short of room and hemmed in with a quarter of a mile to run but, pulled to the outside, he stayed on really nicely all the way to the line, making up considerable ground through the final furlong. Pearl Music won this well, but he had the benefit of a previous run, having finished fourth to subsequent Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Pedro The Great in June.

John Oxx’s two-year-olds almost always improve as they go, and Zand should be a lot sharper next time. He should win his maiden without too much fuss before going on to much better things. The dam side of his family is full of middle distance performers and he could develop into a high-class middle distance colt himself next season.

15th September 2012