Zavateri strikes the right note in July Stakes success

Eve Johnson Houghton was brimming with delight after Zavateri maintained his unbeaten record in the Kingdom of Bahrain July Stakes at Newmarket.

Sent off the 18-1 outsider of six, Charlie Bishop was content to sit off the red-hot early gallop set by Comical Point before Ryan Moore joined in on Brussels.

Maximized (6-4 favourite) threatened to get involved only to drop back tamely, and as Zavateri began to pull away it was Coventry Stakes runner-up Do Or Do Not who stayed on strongly to claim second, a length away as he awaits his first win.

Johnson Houghton said: “I knew he was a good horse, I wasn’t sure if he was good enough to win after only one run because he’s obviously very inexperienced.

“In the paddock he was like, ‘oh, it’s party time!’. But in the race he’s so professional. I thought, ‘Oh god he’s going to win this’, and I never had a moment’s doubt really.”

Zavateri faced a significant rise in class after winning on his Salisbury debut, but his trainer was more than hopeful he would hold his own in the Group Two affair.

“The form of his first race hasn’t worked out at all, but he could only beat what he beat and he’s done it again,” she added.

“I wondered whether I was being a bit ballsy, but quite frankly you either come here and take on Group horses or you go to a novice where you might have to give weight to a Group horse and I thought we might as well come here and see what we’ve got.

“I love this horse – he’s got a great attitude and just wants to please. He’s a dream to train and I think he’s pretty nice to ride as well.”

Zavateri is a 33-1 shot for next year’s 2000 Guineas with Paddy Power. When asked whether he could stay the mile of next season’s first Classic, Johnson Houghton said: “He’s bred to, but as I always tell all my owners, you’ve never heard of Usain Bolt’s brother! What they’re bred to do and what they do aren’t always the same thing, but I think he definitely wants seven furlongs.

“We’ll probably run him once or twice more this year, maybe he’ll go to Goodwood at the Vintage and then we can look at the Dewhurst.”

Zavateri was a second major two-year-old winner of the year for Johnson Houghton after Havana Hurricane’s success in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Comparing the two, she added: “Havana Hurricane is a sprinter and this horse wants further, so they don’t work together – and I haven’t got enough horses to be breaking them against each other!”

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