KEY POINTS:
A tilt at the A$2.25 ($2.57) million BMW in Sydney is among the plans for Zilzie, impressive winner of the group three Taranaki Cup at New Plymouth.
Zilzie showed herself to be among New Zealand's best horses with her easy win in the 2000m race on Saturday and bigger prizes now beckon for trainer Ross Elliot.
Her next target is the group one Starcraft Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on March 10 and her performance in that event will determine whether she heads to Rosehill for the weight-for-age BMW (2000m) on March 31.
"Otherwise we could back off and head to Brisbane in the winter," Elliot said yesterday.
He thought the Doomben Cup (2020m) would be a nice race for the Generous mare.
Longer term, Elliot harbours hopes of a Melbourne Cup bid next spring, but says he just wants to concentrate on her current campaign at present.
He decided to step up Zilzie over ground after her second placing in the Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge Breeders Stakes over 1600m at Tauherenikau on February 6.
"I thought she needed a bit more ground after Tauherenikau and she showed that [on Saturday]."
While Hayden Tinsley rode her perfectly, it was the 4-year-old's performance that particularly impressed Elliot.
"It was a nice ride, but she did win awfully well. She had them all off the bridle and they weren't mucking around."
Zilzie has now won five of her 10 starts, for $114,875 in stakes.
Gaze also relished the extra distance, cutting back Zilzie's winning margin to three-quarters of a length. Maroofity boxed on well for third.
The Taranaki meeting proved a triple bonanza for trainer John Wheeler, though he was at home in a wheelchair after having a hip replacement last week.
The Pooka won the group three Ford 2YO Classic, though Keepa Cruisin gave punters and probably Wheeler a fright by charging late and running him to a long neck.
The Pooka's jockey Mark Du Plessis said the youngster did not feel comfortable on the hard track.
His next assignment is the $175,000 Ford Diamond Stakes at Ellerslie on March 10.
Wheeler's other winners were the New Zealand Oaks-bound Castlebar and $32 shot Golden Pinz.
- NZPA
