By MIKE DILLON
Lance O'Sullivan paid Durzetta a huge compliment after winning the $40,000 Lion Brown Plate.
"This mare could win a Railway Handicap then run a trip [middle distance]."
That has probably been done, but only every few decades.
It takes a special horse to win New Zealand's premier 1200m sprint and O'Sullivan feels Durzetta is just the material to win it.
Royce Dowling's mare came with a huge late sprint to swamp the favourites Buster Brookfield and Hero in the closing stages on Saturday's Rotorua feature.
"She's a terrific ride, she relaxes so beautifully."
Dowling says he can't afford to allow Durzetta to miss Saturday's group one Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham.
"I'll nominate and if she does well in the next two days she'll go.
"She's come through the race fine so far, in fact she's thriving. She's already a valuable broodmare and if she happened to win at group one her value doubles."
Dowling views the Captain Cook as a perfect opportunity for Durzetta to have a crack at group one class.
"Some of the others are still on the way up and she's rock solid. She was very fit for this race."
Durzetta was giving Hero and Buster Brookfield four or five lengths start with 220m to run and picked them up.
O'Sullivan said he hadn't been on a horse that finished that fast since mighty sprinter Mr Tiz.
Eric Watson will have to pay for more than the Warriors this week - he's up for an airfare to Melbourne for Saturday's winner King Keitel.
Watson is co-owner of the winner of the $40,000 Centra Rotorua Stakes, one of New Zealand's most talented emerging stayers.
King Keitel will have plenty of options during the second half of the Victorian spring carnival, one being a supporting races on Melbourne Cup day.
Talking of options, Zabeels Angel is about to run of them with the warm weather drying tracks quickly, but what a prospect she is for next autumn and winter.
She did not let a drying track get in her way late in the programme on Saturday and beat the opposition pointlessly in a fast time.
The Zabeels improve dramatically between three and four and Zabeels Angel has always given the impression she will get even better with another year.
Never count Jim Cassidy out.
The former Kiwi has had a quiet spring, but his genius was on show when he won Saturday's $A350,000 Toorak Handicap on Umrum.
Cassidy's hands and intuitive feel for dictating speed in front in races is magnificent.
His control over the opposition at Caulfield should be required study and shown every day to apprentice schools in Australia and New Zealand.
The real genius comes from being able to switch game plans with the opportunity presents itself.
"I hadn't planned on leading, but the horses around me pulled back so I took advantage of it. It never worries me if I have to lead."
Cassidy did such a good job Umrum won by four and a quarter lengths and he said the margin would have been greater on a good track.
The world's best galloper Montjeu could not get past Kalanisi in the $NZ1.5 million Dubai Champion Stakes at Newmarket in England over the weekend.
Punters took a thrashing when the Sir Michael Stout-trained Kalanisi rallied to hold Montjeu.
Racing: Classy Durzetta given Captain Cook chance
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