Zoukerino’s Redemption Bid at Rosehill
In the world of thoroughbred racing, the journey of a horse can be filled with both ups and downs. Such is the story of Zoukerino, a $500,000 yearling who burst onto the scene with a stakes race victory in his second career start. However, the one-time stallion prospect’s subsequent path has been a bumpy one.
After his auspicious beginning, Zoukerino’s form took a turn for the worse, prompting his connections to have him gelded following a last-place finish in the 2023 Fireball Quality. A change of stable followed, but the horse continued to struggle, failing to beat a rival home in a benchmark race at Randwick in October. This led to Zoukerino being put up for sale.
Fortunately, the horse’s offering piqued the interest of trainer Jason Coyle, who, after watching a handful of Zoukerino’s race replays, was convinced there was still something to work with. Coyle purchased the gelding for just over $32,000, determined to reignite the horse’s enthusiasm for racing.
“He had run himself well out of form,” Coyle said. “He was purchased, from what I could see of the previous ownership, as a stallion prospect and once he was gelded, they ended up shooting him through Inglis Digital. I thought I’d seen enough on his replays to say that worst case scenario, he was going to be a good, honest metro horse.”
Under Coyle’s guidance, Zoukerino has shown steady improvement, finishing fourth at Warwick Farm two starts ago and again at Rosehill last time out, where he was twice disappointed for a run before stretching out late once clear.
This Saturday, the gelding will face similar grade in the Midway Handicap (1300m) at Rosehill, and from barrier one, Coyle is hopeful that his project horse can land an overdue win.
“He was purchased purely to try to get his enthusiasm for racing back because it looked like he’d lost it,” Coyle explained. “I think we’ve done that. He has been to the races now and shown enough to say he wants to be a racehorse, which was probably the gamble we were taking.”
With the bigger stables continuing to grow, smaller operations like Coyle’s must think outside the box to maintain a competitive edge. In identifying Zoukerano as a cheap buy capable of being coaxed back into form, Coyle hopes he has found the gelding’s new connections a handy money-spinner for campaigns to come.
“Now we’ve just got to get the win next to his name and that would be a nice bonus,” the trainer said.
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