HARARE - Zimbabwean-born jockey Karl Zechner, who guided Equina to her first Grade One race crown at the Castle Tankard on Saturday, believes the sky is the limit for the top rated filly.
Equina showed a smart turn of foot to quicken away from her rivals in the final 200 metres and clinch first place in a time of 119.47 seconds, half a length ahead of last year’s winner A King is Born.
The victory saw the four-year-old filly make history by becoming the first young female horse in 16 years to win the high stakes Castle Tankard crown.
South African-bred Coltrane, who was widely expected to claim Africa’s oldest sponsored race, settled for third place with Super Trooper closing in on fourth.
“I can’t just believe, a filly winning the Castle Tankard,” said Zecnher.
The win was Zechner’s 226th win in career spanning over 4032 rides that have yielded 1283 placings.
For Equina, it was her seventh win out of 18 runs that have yielded five placings.
“She has done so well in Zimbabwe and she has just been getting better and better. And thanks to the supporters, it has just been a great day.
“I’m so grateful that this became possible. She came in with a top weight and she was just running just behind the favourites. I mean I made a big runner today.”
He added: “The way things have played with Amy she has prepped the horse to perfection. She hasn’t rushed the horse. She has waited for the horse to tell when she was ready. And today she has planned this to perfection.”
Top world ranked jockey Anton Marcus, who was aboard Coltrane, was not overly disappointed with finishing third.
“He has had a little bit of a lay off. It was his second run in close succession. He had to travel from South Africa to Zim. So all things taken into account, he had a very good run. Look it wasn’t easy to come here. Third place, excellent run,” Marcus said.