Rewarded for his consistency, four year-old Zoustar gelding Regal Zeus posted his first Black Type victory at Bendigo on Saturday when taking out the $200,000 Listed Golden Mile (1600m).
Trained by John McArdle and ridden by Jamie Mott, Regal Zeus was a last start winner at Caulfield over 1200m, but made light work of a step up to 1600m to lead all the way and win by a head in a tenacious display.
Regal Zeus was supposed to run in last Saturday’s Group III MRC Victoria Handicap (1400m), which was why he jumped straight from 1200 to 1600m, his effort to win further emphasising the merit to the performance given connections nearly scratched him from this engagement as well.
"He had a little bit of a blood (issue) Thursday afternoon, it was only very slight, but we spoke to the stewards and we reblooded him yesterday and it was OK yesterday afternoon," McArdle said.
"He almost was a scratching. It's probably not his usual routine to go from 1200 to 1600, but he was prepped up for the Victoria Handicap last week, but he drew terrible.
"He's just an incredibly tough horse.
“He's a horse that handles wet or dry ground. He's a real racehorse, and Jamie has obviously ridden him plenty of times before so he knows how to ride him and rode him perfectly.”
A $150,000 Inglis Easter purchase for Regal Bloodstock / Blue Grass (FBAA) / Redgum Racing from the Edinburgh Park draft, Regal Zeus has been stakes-placed previously and has the overall record of eight wins from 23 starts with prizemoney topping $686,000.
Bred by Ian Smith, Regal Zeus is the best of two winners from Group III placed Quiet Kitten (USA), a grand-daughter of stakes-winner Darling Alice, whose daughters have had plenty of success in Australia producing Group II winner Glenfiddich and stakes-winning $2.4million earner Eleven Eleven.
Quiet Kitten was sold in the Edinburgh Park Dispersal at Magic Millions National in 2023 with Kingstar Farm picking up the mare for $120,000.
They sold a Zoustar yearling colt from her at Inglis Classic this year for $200,000 and after missing in 2023, Quiet Kitten was covered last year by Zoustar’s Group I winning son Ozzmosis so will produce a three-quarter sibling to Regal Zeus this spring.
Regal Zeus is the 65th stakes-winner for Widden Stud’s champion sire Zoustar.
