Snowden's Hawkesbury dominance grows via Zealously Gold Rush success
The trainer Peter Snowden maintains his exceptional bond with the standalone Hawkesbury race day, notching the Gold Rush to his collection of standout wins through the capable speedster Zealously.
From the program's early days, Snowden has been a regular and boasts seven successes in the Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) plus five in the Guineas (1400m), contributing to his total of 18 major race victories that afternoon.
Zealously, sent out as the $4 favourite, set the tempo upfront and comfortably held off challengers to win Saturday's $200,000 Hawkesbury Gold Rush (1100m) by 1-1/2 lengths ahead of the $10 chance Bev's Nine, with $7 Monte Supreme in third as the trailers failed to close the gap effectively.
The four-year-old's breakthrough stakes success thrilled Snowden, who confessed to some nerves when the track seemed "doughy" at the start of proceedings, especially since Zealously thrives on good ground.
"I was a little bit worried when I saw the track today. You wouldn't want it any wetter for him," Snowden said.
"But I thought he'd be able to control the speed and when he got a soft sectional between the 400 and the corner, he was going to be hard to beat."
Rather than heading to Scone carnival, Snowden intends to target Brisbane's winter riches with Zealously.
Queensland offers various targets for the quick runner, provided conditions stay dry.
"I think we will look at Brisbane with him now," he said.
"I've got Fire Star and King Of Sparta for Scone, so I'm just trying to spread them around."
Ridden by Tom Sherry, Zealously showed greater maturity upon return this prep and better energy management, according to the jockey.
"Once he can control a race like that, he's always going to be very competitive," Sherry said.
"I feel as though he's relaxing a lot better this preparation than in his previous ones, which will stand him in good stead going forward."
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