Zanbagh too tough in Tibbie Stakes

John Thompson's top mare Zanbagh produced a courageous effort to take out the Group III Tibbie Stakes (1400m) at Newcastle on Friday.

The daughter of Bernadini had the odds stacked against her despite the booking of Hugh Bowman after drawing the extreme outside barrier and being forced lump the topweight of 58.5kg.

The seven-year-old jumped cleanly from the awkward draw and Bowman elected to slide forward to look for some cover however, he was caught out on a limb three-wide without cover.

Bowman got Zanbagh into a good rhythm in third, just behind the speed set by Bjorn Baker's pair of Imposing Lass and Lubiton.

Coming to the furlong Bowman was hard at work and a wall of horses were descending on the leaders but Zanbagh ($16) dug deep inside the final 50m to draw clear by half a length for a tough win over Ron Leemon's Perfect Rhyme ($17) with a further half-length back to the Kim Waugh-trained Hetty Heights ($31).

"She's a great mare," Thompson said.

"She's consistent and she was probably the class horse of the field when Kris' mare came out.

"She had a good horses weight and barrier 18 but she had Hugh Bowman on her back."

Hugh Bowman was quietly confident coming into the race.

"I gave her a pretty good chance because I finished close to her on McCreery in the Tramway, the race wasn't run to suit us last start and she finished just beside me," Bowman said.

"It was an awkward draw and she had to do all the work herself but she is a very well-performed mare and I thought she was well placed here today."

Thompson has indicated that Zanbagh would now target the Group I Epsom Handicap on September 30.