John Thompson isn’t expecting a win out of his debutants at Kembla on Tuesday but expects they will be taking out races down the track.
Thompson, who is on the home-stretch towards 1000 winners, will use the meeting to kick off the careers of handsome pairing Zerkhan and Cannavaro.
Both horses are well-bred two-year-olds whose futures lie well beyond what remains of the current season.
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‘’They are both stayers who trialled all right having their first start,’’ Thompson told the Daily Telegraph.
‘’They’ll improve as the distances get longer and as they get older. I would be looking for then next preparation and later on but they’ll run well especially Zerkhan, he’s a nice horse.’’
Zerkhan was born and raised at Arrowfield Stud where his sire Real Steel stood for just one season, resulting in 51 foals.
‘’He’s got an interesting pedigree,’’ Thompson said. ‘’There haven’t been too many of the Real Steel’s to run here in Australia.
‘’We bought Zerkhan at the Inglis Classic sale for $200,000.’’
Trainer John Thompson. Picture: Mark Evans – Getty Images
While Zerkhan was foaled at Scone, his entire family tree is rooted in Normandy, France, as a member of one of the Aga Khan’s most prized families, even by his standards.
Zerkhan’s dam, Zerkela, won a 2000m race in France but her true value and appeal is in her close genetic relationship to the Aga Khan’s own version of Winx – Zarkava.
Unbeaten in her seven starts, Zarkava’s wins include the French 1000 Guineas/French Oaks double prior to her swansong win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Zerkhan was given nothing more than a spin-around in his first trial at Randwick on April 18 beating one home over the 735m scamper.
Thompson’s colt showed significant improvement in a Kembla heat two weeks later, closing off well in the end to finish third over 790m.
Cannavaro meanwhile is scheduled to make his debut in the Mount Keira 2YO Maiden Handicap also over 1400m.
‘’He’s not as precocious as the other fella but he’s still a nice horse,’’ Thompson says.
‘’He is a deadset stayer and it’s hard for horses like that to trial any good but he went quite well in his last one.’’
Cannavaro is a blue-blood and Tait family in every sense of the word.
His sire, Fiorente won the Melbourne Cup whilst his dam is a half-sister to ATC Oaks winner Wild Iris for the Taits.
To top it all, Cannavaro’s third dam is the family’s flying filly Fiancee, a daughter of Baguette.