SLAM! Sports
Horse Racing
COLUMNS
AT THE POST
THOROUGHBRED
HARNESS
BREEDERS CUP
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
Zaha eyeing own 3-feat
Zaha, a leading contender for the Queen's Plate on June 27, will make his first start of the season, going a mile in a $43,000 allowance event.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin yesterday confirmed the Shadwell Stable runner then will move on to Woodbine for the crown jewel of Canadian racing.
"He had a little blowout (yesterday) and looked good," McLaughlin said. "He's very fit, but will need this race.
"I would have run him in the Plate Trial (Sunday at Woodbine) but we already know he likes the track -- he won there last fall. So we figured we would take him out of his stall here and run him, not expecting necessarily to win. We just want a race to tighten him up and get him ready for the Queen's Plate."
Zaha originally was pointed to the U.S. Triple Crown before suffering a minor leg injury. He also spent some time on the shelf because of sickness.
McLaughlin said New York-based jockey Robbie Davis will get the call on Zaha throughout his Canadian run.
In another Plate development, Frank Stronach's Euchre was an impressive winner in his debut yesterday at Hollywood Park. The Bobby Frankel trainee also is expected to run in the Plate.
Stronach pulled a similar stunner with California-based Awesome Again in 1997. After two wins there, he shipped to Canada to win the Plate before going on to an undefeated '98 season -- capped by a win in the Breeders' Cup Classic.