ZACINTO CONSIDERED THE TOP COLT

Zacinto the top colt

Nick Mordin
Article taken from The Irish Field

There is no doubt that Zacinto (DANSILI) is the best two-year-old colt we’ve seen so far this season following his eight length romp in a seven furlong maiden at Sandown. Lines of form added to the formula I use to take account of sectional times in a two-year-old race both point towards the big rating.

Zcinto is a good-bodied, mature,muscular sort with a fast ground action. He reminds me a bit of Raven’s Pass who also ran a huge race last season over seven furlongs at Sandown to then rank as the top two-year-old on my ratings.

The difference between Zacinto and Raven’s Pass is that Zacinto looks to have a little more stamina. Raven’s Pass only just gets the mile, but Zacinto should get it well. There looks to be a fair possibility that he could get 10 furlongs later on if my assessment of his physique is any guide.

The early pace was strong at Sandown, at least for the horses Zacinto was racing against. They were being scrubbed along to keep up while he was simply cruising.

Switched out to the centre of the course, Zacinto surged clear through the last three furlongs, running them just shy of two seconds faster than the older horses did in the 10 furlong listed race later on.

He also came home a full second quicker than the older horses did in the valuable mile handicap on identical going the next day. As jockey Ryan Moore noted ‘his turn of foot was impressive.’

Zacinto did run a little green, so he could well be capable of running a bit faster. He deserves to be favourite for the 2,000 Guineas at this stage. However, it is early days.

Zacinto’s prospects now basically depend on the weather and the strength of the as yet unraced two-year-olds that will emerge over the next six to eight weeks. He’s more likely than not to win a Group 1, but I should add that the filly Cuis Ghaire is just as good on my ratings and by the end of the season there are always at least three or four colts that have earned bigger ratings from me than Zacinto did here.

Still, Zacinto is clearly a proper Group 1 horse and will be hard to beat in any race he contests on fast ground from now on.

Date: 14 July 2008