A Clever ride by Zahra to score on Pied A Terre

A clever ride by jockey Mark Zahra helped three year old Pied A Terre to an easy win in the Group 2 Hyland Colours Autumn Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield today.

Zahra took the Peter Snowden trainer Pied A Terre to sit outside the leader and with a slow first sectional was able to kick clear in the straight to score a comfortable win.

“They have keep him fresh and when he was to find that couple of lengths at the top of the straight I knew he would be hard to beat,” Zahara said.

Zahra was quick to thank Kerrin McEvoy who could have ridden Pied A Terre but elected to go with the other Peter Snowden trained Benfica.

Snowden said the secret to Pied A Terre was to keep him fresh and space his runs. The three year old hasn’t raced since finishing second at Flemington on January 14.

“I think the key to this horse to keep him fresh. He’s not a horse who trains on. I’ll have to space his runs and he runs sharper. At Flemington he had every chance and I thought the run was a tad disappointing. Three to four weeks in between runs to keep him fresh and he is a sharper horse,” Snowden said.

Snowden said that Pied A Terre would not be going to the  Group 1 $750,000 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 3 but would be going back to Sydney for some suitable races.

The Mick Price trained Proliferate caught the eye with a fast finishing second and is a good pointer to the Group 1 $750,000 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 3.

 

 

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.