By MIKE DILLON
Watching Zonda gallop at Matamata on Tuesday morning turned Roger James' mind.
It was then the Matamata trainer became convinced the best horse he has had through his stable could make a winning comeback tomorrow after two years and nine months off with injury.
It is unnatural to even think a horse could win after such a long absence.
But then Zonda is an unnatural horse and he can prove it in the $14,000 Dixon and Dunlop 1400 at Trentham.
"He's a freakish horse and they can do freakish things at times," said James, weighing up his chances.
"If he is ridden quietly I can see the possibility of him paralysing the others in the closing stages."
But there must always be at least some doubt in a trainer's mind under these circumstances.
"I guess if I have to ask myself something, it's whether he would have ever been able to run a 1.22 1400m.
"The answer is I don't really know because I've only ever had him for one preparation.
"During that preparation we were always stepping him up in distance to win the Derby."
Zonda won the Avondale Guineas before his stunning New Zealand Derby win at Ellerslie and went on to take the Alister Clark Stakes in Melbourne.
He has not raced since finishing fifth in the Rosehill Guineas in March 1998.
A succession of injuries and niggling problems have hampered the flow of his career.
James says the public will see a different Zonda to the one they remember.
"When he won the Derby he was a frail 3-year-old.
"He was a Christmas Day foal and we were always putting him in cotton wool to protect him.
"Now he's a big feeder and a big lump of a horse.
"We have had our job cut out getting him fit, but when I saw his work on Tuesday morning I felt we were just about there.
"It was like the effort he put in at the best of his 3-year-old training and he finished off with the best 600m of the morning.
"Remarkably, because I have had him for only one preparation, I am still learning about him, but I have got the greatest respect for his ability."
James picked Trentham for Zonda's reappearance because he feels the horse is at his best racing left-handed.
After tomorrow Zonda will be set for the Kings Plate at Ellerslie on Boxing Day and then for The Oaks Classic on January 3.
He will be ridden tomorrow by Michael Walker.
Racing: Bigger, brighter, better Zonda is back
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