Talented Zousain filly Verzain made it back-to-back stakes wins when scoring a stylish victory in the $150,000 Group III SAJC Breeders Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
A last start winner of the Listed SAJC Without Fear Stakes, the Phillip Stokes trained filly was a touch flighty leaving the mounting yard, but was all business once the gates opened.
Ridden by Harry Coffey, Verzain settled behind the leaders and let down with a good finish, hitting the front with a furlong to run and working through the line to win by a couple of lengths.
“Full credit to the team. She's a tough little filly. She put on a bit of a show out here before she went out of the mounting yard and I was sort of hoping that she hadn't had enough, but she dug deep. There was good speed and it helped give her the chance to run the 1200 out and she was strong through the line and has done a good job this prep,” said Phillip Stokes.
“She's a valuable filly now with a couple of stakes wins there, so we'll have to think about what we do next. There is another stakes race in a couple of weeks, but she’s been in work for a while, so she'd want to be pulling up well.”
Verzain was a $40,000 Magic Millions Book 2 purchase from Goodwood Farm for Mick Malone Bloodstock and runs for a big ownership group that will be thrilled to have a stakes-winning filly on their hands.
Verzain has two wins and two seconds from four starts with prizemoney just shy of $200,000.
She was bred by Jen Campin Bloodstock and is the first winner from Written Verse, a placed Written Tycoon mare from the family of dual Group I winner and champion sire Extreme Choice.
Written Verse has a yearling colt by In the Congo that sold for just $10,000 at Magic Millions Gold Coast March and produced a colt by the ill-fated stallion Wyndspelle last spring.
Verzain is the fifth stakes-winner for Widden Stud’s Zousain.
