Currently sunning himself at the Noosa Equestrian Centre, former Spendthrift stallion Swear (Redoute's Choice) was represented by his first stakes-winner when Zoe’s Promise fought to a narrow victory in Saturday’s Group II 3 Point Motors Fillies Classic (1600m) at Moonee Valley.
A popular winner for trainer Daryl Cannon and jockey Alana Kelly, Zoe’s Promise climbed off the canvas to defeat Climbing Star (Zoustar) by a short-neck with Do It La (Shalaa) a further two and a quarter lengths back in third.
“She’s tough and she showed that all this prep," Cannon said.
“The win at Caulfield was tough, and she showed it again today.
“It was the plan to get off the rail because Alana had walked the track and said that two or three off the fence was the place to be so before the turn to get there.”
“She (Alana Kelly) has a good rapport with the horse and she’s going to be a (good) jockey in the future.”
“We only work around eight or ten horses and we do it on our own. Up where we are it is very difficult to find trackwork riders which is a common occurrence across the country, but we just do it as we do with ten at the most, and it is working.”
The win was a career highlight for Alana Kelly
“That’s terrific. That’s what you work for. And to do it for a little team like the Cannons - that’s fantastic, Kelly enthused.
“That track is playing a bit difficult today, but we are all trying to ride the best we can off it.
“I thought I’d made a blue coming out so early looking for that better ground on the corner, and I knew that Climbing Star had such a good turn-of-foot that he actually put half-a-length on me.
“But she’s just so competitive that she pinned them (ears) back and fought well.”
Bred by Spendthrift Australia and raced by the Reddie family, Zoe’s Promise is the best of two winner’s from three to race out of the US stakes-winner Kinz Funky Monkey (USA), one of two stakes winners in North America for the savagely mocked The Green Monkey.
A son of Forestry, The Green Monkey made international headlines when purchased for a record US$16 million as a 2-year-old. He finished third once in three starts and retired with earnings of $10,440.
Kinz Funky Monkey (USA) has a yearling filly by The Brother’s War (USA) and was covered by Sandbar last season.
