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Another Group One win by outstanding four-year-old Preferment in the $1.5 million BMW at Rosehill on Saturday has surely made him a fine prospect well equipped to carry on the Zabeel sire line at stud.
A Karaka yearling sale graduate, Preferment (Zabeel x Better Alternative by Flying Spur) claimed his second consecutive G1 win and his fourth overall when he outstayed a high class line-up over the classic 2400m distance.
Preferment also won the Victoria Derby over 2500m at Flemington as a three-year-old and this season has added the Turnbull Stakes (2000m) and Australian Cup (2000m), albeit on protest, before the BMW success.Overall Preferment has had 20 starts for five wins, five placings and $3.3 million in stakes, an outstanding return for his owners and trainer Chris Waller, who bought the NZ-bred entire for $190,000 at the 2013 NZ Bloodstock Premier Sale at Karaka.
Preferment was ridden to victory by his regular jockey Hugh Bowman, who best summed up why he has the makings of a top class sire.“He feels like a Rolls Royce,” he said. “He is one of the best movers I have ever sat on, and I have sat on some nice ones.”
Preferment’s dam Better Alternative has had three foals to race for as many winners including the Waller-trained G3 winner Rezoned, also by Zabeel.Preferment’s third dam is the unraced Hello Lottie (Beau Sovereign), the dam of 11 winners from 12 foals to race including the G11 winner Ancient Song (Canny lad) and stakes winners Royal Lott (Royal Abjar) and Danzig Beau (Slant).
Better Alternative was covered by Fastnet Rock last season and has a weanling filly by the late O’Reilly. She also has a current Rip Van Winkle yearling half-brother to Preferment.Leebaz, another versatile Zabeel product sold as a yearling at Karaka, completed a big double for the late super sire when he led all the way for a courageous win in the G3 Easter Cup over 2000m at Caulfield on Saturday.
Bought by Team Hawkes for $460,000, Leebaz has now won eight of his 26 starts and more than $830,000 in stakes.This was his third stakes win, having earlier claimed the G3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup and the G2 A.D. Hollindale Stakes at the Gold Coast.
This month has seen other notable achievements by Zabeel progeny and descendants, including historic Group wins over 3200m in the Auckland and Adelaide Cups by two geldings who had never previously won a stakes race.His 5YO son Purple Smile won the Adelaide Cup and a 9YO grandson El Soldado led all the way taking out the Auckland Cup.
El Soldado is by Colombia, a $1.4 million younger half-brother to Horse of the Year Octagonal who was unraced due to injury.Their wins took Zabeel’s record of individual winners over 2400m and further to more than 50 with about 20 having won at 3200m including his Melbourne Cup victors Efficient, Ethereal, Jezabeel and Might And Power.