Promising mare Zecora made a welcome return to the winners' enclosure at Te Rapa when she stormed home out wide to secure a thrilling victory in the Group 3 J Swap Sprint (1400m).
The six-year-old mare looked to have any amount of ability when winning three of her first nine starts before a fractured cannon bone intervened and saw her spend over a year away from the track for trainers and part-owners Russell and Robyn Rogers.
A quiet run for second in a 1000m trial at Taupo last month preceded her return to racing at Te Rapa earlier in the month, where she battled on nicely to finish midfield over 1100m.
That fitted her nicely for her stakes mission and she didn't disappoint in the hands of Lynsey Satherley who was content to sit back off a hot speed in the early stages of the contest.
Satherley began to wind her up at the 600m and she produced an irresistible late burst to snatch victory from runner-up Tevere by a nose at the line with race favourite Romancing The Moon fighting strongly for third just a neck from the first two.
2023 Group 3 J Swap Sprint Replay – Zecora
Robyn Rogers sported a smile a mile wide as she spoke about the winning effort as well as the injury that kept the mare away from racing.
“I thought she ran second and we were stoked with that as it was a huge run, so when they said she had won it was just so exciting,” Rogers said.
“She is a beautifully bred mare and her form was outstanding but she had her last bit of work at this time last year when we were preparing for a stakes race on Boxing Day and she pulled up sore.
“We had her x-rayed and she had fractured a canon bone, so that was the end of that and we thought it might be the end of her career.
“She had three rods and plates put in it, but she was an awesome patient and coped with the rehab.
“This was very much a roll of the dice as we were thinking if we could get some black type it would be huge for her and with the race being just down the road we gave it a crack and it is just amazing.”
Rogers wasn't sure where the mare would go next as they had been concentrating exclusively on her immediate mission.
“She is just so tough and Lynsey is a huge part of it as she rides her in all her trackwork,” she said.
“She is not the easiest but she gives 120 per cent.
“I don't know where she will go next and we hadn't even looked anywhere else so we will have to go home and have a rethink.”