Godolphin might have opted for a senior rider on Golden Rose runner-up Traffic Warden, but they have put their faith in stable apprentice Zac Lloyd to deliver their next major aboard Zardozi in the Group 1 Metropolitan at Randwick.
Lloyd partnered Traffic Warden to his brilliant first-up win in The Run To The Rose (1200m) but Ben Melham took over the reins for last weekend’s feature in which the colt was narrowly denied by stablemate Broadsiding.
Trainer James Cummings singled Lloyd out after the race and said the young hoop had taken their decision to replace him on the chin.
“It wasn’t his time yet and that time will come,” Cummings said after the Golden Rose.
“Zac took it with class. He has come back and ridden two feature winners (at Rosehill last Saturday) already.”
Lloyd hasn’t had to wait long for Cummings’ promised Group 1 opportunity, securing the mount on Zardozi in this weekend’s 2400m staying feature.
While he claimed his first major on the Bjorn Baker-trained Stefi Magnetica in the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) during the winter, delivering one for his master would have a significance all its own.
An emphatic winner of the VRC Oaks last spring and runner-up in the ATC’s version during the autumn, Zardozi has been thereabouts in her three spring runs, the latest when fifth to Eliyass in the Kingston Town Stakes (2000m).
Cummings believes a return to handicap conditions will suit her but admits she has found the bridge from three to four a challenging one and her performance in the Metropolitan will be pivotal.
“It seems to me that now we are really at a crossroads with her campaign and the drop back to handicap conditions needs to be the right path forward for her,” he said.
“The form out of the Kingston Town is strong and she meets most of the runners she did battle against two to three kilos better off at the weights.
“She’s proven to have just found the transition between three-year-old fillies’ company and open age tough.
“Her training and the way she is in herself, the way she’s developed since last campaign, she continues to thrive so we’ve got a bit of faith in her.”
The Metropolitan field changed shape on Thursday with the scratchings of Chris Waller-trained pair El Bodegon and Manzoice, along with Star Of India and Berkshire Breeze.
It has cleared the path for all four emergencies to run, including Unusual Legacy who has is now a $6.50 race favourite.
There has also been some movement with riders, Winona Costin going onto Strathtay and Alysha Collett, who had been booked for Star Of India, to partner Matusalem.
New Zealand apprentice Wiremu Pinn had been secured for Unusual Legacy but could no longer make the trip to Sydney due to injury, with Jay Ford picking up the mount and granted permission to ride the horse at 50.5kg, a half-kilo over his allotted weight.
