19 Nov 2017
Cambridge Stud super sire Zabeel has claimed his 164th stakes win through Gr.2 Gartshore Tauranga Stakes victor Ocean Emperor.
Bred by Matamata's Garry Chittick, the Gary Hennessy-trained Ocean Emperor is out of the Group-winning Pins mare Tootsie.
Hennessy has had his fair share of problems with the well-bred entire but they became a memory when he claimed his most important win in the Tauranga feature on Saturday.
In the hands of regular rider Mark Hills, Ocean Emperor produced a career-best performance to account for the talented mare Miss Wilson and the multiple Group One winner Kawi, who got home well from the tail of the field for third.
On the good track Hennessy has been waiting for, the six-year-old showed exactly what he was capable of and impressively progressed from a previous Rating 85 win at Awapuni to make a successful weight-for-age debut.
He has now won six of his 16 starts with Hills aboard in four of them.
Hennessy part-owned and trained the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) winner Ocean Park, now resident at Waikato Stud, with Andrew Wong and Steve Yan and the same partnership races Ocean Emperor.
“Gary Hennessy has done an unbelievable job with this horse,” Chittick said.
“He’s been so patient and he’s always rated him so highly. Good on him. Off the back of Ocean Park, they bought this horse for $450,000 from us. They deserve it, he’s won a really nice race and it’s still early days, the horse hasn’t had much racing.”
As well as siring Ocean Emperor, Zabeel's legacy was further enhanced as the sire of Bagalollies, whose Tavistock sons Werther and Gobstopper claimed an international Group race double on the weekend.
Along with Werther's success at Sha Tin, Giant Turtle claimed his third success in Hong Kong on the undercard.
Co-bred by Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan and Andari Ltd, Zabeel six-year-old Giant Turtle finished second in the Gr.2 Waikato Guineas before he was exported. – NZ Racing Desk