Arapaho & Zapateo give Rachel King Group 3 double at Randwick
Rachel King was able to take out both the Group 3 Premier’s Cup (2000m) and Group 3 Toy Show Quality (1100m) at Randwick on Saturday, with Arapaho and Zapateo proving too good in their respective races.
While Arapaho’s victory in the staying feature was a surprise to many, four-year-old mare Zapateo surprised no one, careering away to win by almost three lengths in the $200,000 event.
The daughter of Brazen Beau is a half-sister to Osbourne Bulls, so winning trainer James Cummings believes that this lightly-race mare has plenty of improvement in her.
2022 Toy Show Quality Replay
“She’s a lovely mare and looks like she’s got a big future,” Cummings said.
“She was not well-weighted at all with the compression of the weights as it turned out in this race with a dual-acceptor – and that was a shame for her – but she’s just been flying along in her trackwork.
“We were extremely confident Zapateo is Osbourne Bulls’ half-sister and a young mare by Brazen Beau, looks like she’s got lots of upside and I don’t think she’s done with yet.”
The victory for Zapateo was the 15th that Cummings and King have combined in, and the Godolphin Australia head trainer was full of praise of King’s ride.
“Rachel did a perfect job from the good gate,” he said.
“She got the perfect storm in the run, was able to get her to switch off a lot better than what she did at Scone.
“If we take her to the Sheraco next, she’s going to have to step up and get the job done over six furlongs and run it out strongly, but she’s a fast mare.”