All-Star Mile Day (Flemington) – March 19th

The Seppelt Wines All-Star Mile

(WFA - 1600m)

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Winning Horse: Zaaki (Gb)

7yoG Leroidesanimaux (Brz) - Kesara (GB)(Sadler's Wells (USA))

32 starts - 11 wins 4 seconds 6 thirds 2 fourths $6183357

Group 1 Wins

1st G1 Flemington Mackinnon Stakes 2000m (2021)

1st G1 Sandown-Hillside Quayclean Underwood Stakes 1800m (2021)

1st G1 Doomben Channel 7 Doomben Cup 2000m (2021)

Black Type Wins

1st G2 Randwick Fujitsu General Tramway Stakes 1400m (2021)

1st G2 Eagle Farm Sky Racing The Q22 2200m (2021)

1st G2 Gold Coast A.D. Hollindale Stakes 1800m (2021)

1st G3 Gb - York Sky Bet And Symphony Group Strensall Stakes (Group 3) 1771m (2019)

1st G3 Gb - Epsom Downs Investec Diomed Stakes (Group 3) 1713m (2019)

1st LR Gb - Ascot Ascot Shop Paradise S. 1609m (2019)

Race Result:

1st: Zaaki (Jamie Kah/Annabel Neasham) - $2.40 fav

2nd: I’m Thunderstruck (Jye McNeil/Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr.) - $8.50
3rd: Streets Of Avalon (Zac Spain/Shane Nichols) - $201

Winning Time: 1:36.54 Last 600m: N/A

Margins: 1-1/2L x 3/4L

Winning Trainer: Annabel Neasham

Pre-race nerves: “I don’t know why I was worried at the top of the straight, I needn't be. He’s just unbelievable. I get very nervous when he’s running, it just feels like relief but elation as well.

The All Star Mile: “A 5 million dollar race. It’s unbelievable. There’s a great ownership involved in him.  

Plans: “We’ll enjoy this for now, but certainly the Queen Elizabeth will be the target, and if we don’t get James (McDonald) at least we’ve found another pilot that gets on with him well. She’s a star.”

Winning Trainer: Annabel Neasham (additional from Todd Pollard)

Supreme performance from horse and rider: “It’s great to see. The horse deserves it so much. He puts in 110 per cent everytime. Sometimes things don’t do his way but he full credit to the horse, the team at home, Annabel and the owners, it’s good reward for the whole team.”

12 months ago hadn’t raced in Australia and his rise: “Based on his couple of trials before the Doncaster we thought we had a pretty nice horse, but you never know until race day. He’s a great animal, he knows when it’s race day and he’s easy to deal with. It’s unbelievable.”

Consolation for Cox Plate: “That was the lowest of lows, it was so disappointing for everyone involved, so for him to win a race like this, hopefully he’ll be back in the Cox Plate this year for some unfinished business. Bring it on.”

Winning Jockey: Jamie Kah

On the win: “It just means so much more after coming back and what we had to go through, I missed out on so many big opportunities through Spring. It was just so special, he’s just a machine. There’s a lot of pressure riding a horse like him and not that I’m one that really feels it but I’ve been runner up in a few of the big ones lately and it’s just so nice to get the job done on a horse like him.”

The race: “That was the plan I had, I never for one minute thought it’d be easy to get there but in the end it was relatively smooth enough. I thought we were going pretty well on the turn, when he’s ridden like this he’s just a different horse. It gave me goosebumps trotting back in, it was very special.”

The horse: “It’s pretty simple when you ride a horse like him, you’ve just got to get him into his rhythm and he’s just an absolute machine when you let him do his thing and I felt that on the turn, but sometimes those horses don't sustain that and he’s just the opposite. He’s a superstar, he just gets stronger and stronger.”

On Annabel: “She’s an absolute legend, she doesn’t put too many instructions or plans in your head. She’s backed me all the way through. We were booked for this horse a while out and she’s supported me through everything in the last year and it’s just amazing for her and her team. They just turn these horses around time and time again. She deserves it, the owners deserve it and I’m pretty happy I was the one that got to sit on him.”

Winning Owner’s Ambassador: Nicholas Bouseka

On The Horse: “I’ve followed his career, I saw him up at Doomben and ever since then I’ve watched every race. In the stalls he looked very powerful, very serene, very calm. Jamie got on him and you could see he just lit up and he showed that in the race.”

Winning $250,000: “I feel very surreal. Everybody’s been asking me all day if I’m excited, and now I am because it’s real. My thought process got me as far as topping up my TAB account. I entered because of my partner Katrina. She’s the one who suggested for me to enter. It was an unexpected phone call, it’s unbelievable. It feels unreal.”

Beaten Jockeys:

Jye McNeil (I'm Thunderstruck): “Terrific run. They probably just backed it off too much in the middle stages and it made it too tough for him to win.”

Damien Oliver (Cascadian): “He ran well. They just walked and went really slow and it suited horses on pace.”

Zac Spain (Streets Of Avalon): “He’s an old marvel. He was absolutely super. I thought I was half a chance at the top of the straight, but he just got outstayed. He;’s an absolute superstar.”

Craig Newitt (Lunar Fox): “He had a tough run throughout and it probably just told late. He’s an entire that’s probably got his mind on other things.”

Lachlan King (King Magnus): “The tempo of the race was terrible and he’s a horse that needs rhythm and he didn’t get into any rhythm today.”

Ben Allen (Callsign Mav): “Honest but I think he’s better suited to a track like Caulfield. It would be a bit easier for him.”

Craig Williams (Mr Brightside): “He was a bit anxious in the barrier stalls today and consequently he found himself in the ruck in a slowly run race and he stayed on well for the calibre of race. He’s an exciting type for the future.”

Fred Kersley (Icebath): “It may have been a little bit firm for her.”

Jamie Mott (Tofane): “She was very keen through the run and to get a mile she needs to relax better than that.”

John Allen (Sierra Sue): “She’s run well. I got spat out the back a little bit early and even though we got held up in the straight, we got a good run through them and she finished off OK.”

Damian Lane (Inspirational Girl): “To hit the line from where she was with the run she had was enormous. On speed horses got a picnic in front and I found myself in a terrible spot.”

Patrick Moloney (Captivant): “He’s a lad and ran like a lad. He didn’t really try.”

Luke Nolen (Lightsaber): “He didn’t back up his Guineas run and I looked after him late.”

Michael Dee (Pinstriped): “We ended a tad closer but got behind the winner and the way he ended up in the run might have been about him. I feel a break will do him the world of good and he’ll come back much, much better.”

History of Winners

Current Field - Previous Performances

History Placegetters : Statistics from 2001 to 2021

Black Type Form: Last 12 months

Winning Trainers : Statistics from 2001 to 2021

Winning Jockeys : Statistics from 2001 to 2021

Barrier Statistics : Statistics from 2001 to 2021

Winners by Weight : Statistics from 2001 to 2021

Favourites : Statistics from 2001 to 2021

Runner Ages : Statistics from 2001 to 2021