General Zabeel
Lightly raced performers General Zabeel and Alpina are set to play support roles alongside their lore established stablemates over the 2015 Australian spring carnival.
General Zabeel, a lightly raced stayer, hinted at his potential with a five length win in his maiden preparation before being tried in stakes company. Alpina only raced once as a two-year-old and showed trainer John Thompson a professional attitude and an encouraging level of ability.
“General Zabeel is due back in my stable next week. He may be aimed up for the back end of the carnival with races like the Summer Cup a possible option,” the trainer said.
“Bart (Cummings), who I used to work for, has always said that the best way to season a horse is to travel them and General Zabeel would benefit from seasoning so Melbourne is an option as well.
“He has had an eight week spell to help him get to a higher level this time in. He is a nice stayer in the making. I have worked with a few decent Zabeels like Tremec and Precedence and General Zabeel has shown as much as they did at the same stage. They didn’t show much early but they burst onto the scene as four-year-olds.”
Alpina will also require to show natural improvement to be tried in stakes company over the spring but it is not uncommon for young racehorses to make significant leaps between preparations. Only 12 months ago First Seal went from maiden company to stamp herself as the dominant fully of her generation winning the G1 Flight Stakes and G2 Tea Rose Stakes in the spring before an autumn preparation fraught with bad luck and frustration.
“Alpina is a very immature filly but a nice filly coming into the spring,” Thompson said.
“She will be coming into the spring at the right time and if she can measure up to the better grade the Princess Series is there for her. Her trials will determine if she warrants being tested at this level just yet.”
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