New Zealand's best racehorse Probabeel is going to get another shot at Zaaki to test her Cox Plate credentials.
The multi-million-dollar mare was second to Zaaki in the A$1 million Underwood at Sandown on Saturday, and while owner Brendan Lindsay is not giving up on Australasia's greatest weight-for-age race yet, he also isn't interested in going to the Cox Plate to make up numbers.
So Lindsay and wife Jo will give Probabeel another crack at Zaaki and possibly Verry Elleegant in the Caulfield Stakes in 12 days, then make the biggest call of their spring.
"We were very proud of her on Saturday, especially the way she backed up at 1800m a week after starting in a Group 1 1400m," says Lindsay, principal of Cambridge Stud. "But she was beaten fair and square, and Zaaki might be the best weight-for-age horse going around and Verry Elleegant might be the second best.
"So we will give her a shot at the Caulfield Stakes against those two and, just as importantly, over 2000m, and that should tell us whether we press on to the Cox Plate."