Brilliant speedster Zambora Smokey predictably stole the show as Jason Thompson claimed a double in Friday night’s heats of the Group 3 Warragul St Leger (460m).
Zambora Smokey (pictured) came into the heats of the $25,000 to-the-winner St Leger after finishing sixth to Australia’s number one sprinter Simon Told Helen in the Group 1 Maturity Classic last weekend.
Unbeaten in two previous Warragul appearances, including a near-record 25.37s performance last month, only .03s outside former Thompson-trained superstar Aston Dee Bee’s course record, Zambora Smokey stifled betting on the opening heat, starting at $1.20 from box two.
Kennelmate Taken ($7.20) was the only other runner at single figures.
The long odds-on favourite jumped straight to the front and after seeing off the challenge of Run And Carry ($11.10) he forged clear to record a commanding 2.14 length victory over Taken in a fast 25.54s.
It was Zambora Smokey’s 18th win from 26 starts and he’ll be chasing his second Group victory in next Saturday’s final, having won the Group 2 Warrnambool Cup in May when claiming Simon Told Helen’s scalp.
Jason Thompson then had another odds-on favourite drawn in box two in the second heat.
Fire Legend, which also came to Warragul via the Maturity, where he was runner-up to Simon Told Helen in a heat, started at $1.70, while Zambora
Smokey’s litter brother Zambora Lion was a $9 chance.
It was a tougher watch for favourite backers after Fire Legend was slow to begin but he quickly recovered and finished too strongly along the inside for leader Phantom Call ($4.80), scoring by .86 of a length in 25.68s, with Zambora Lion third.
It was Fire Legend’s second win from three 460m assignments at Warragul and 15th from 29 overall.
Thompson was chasing a clean-sweep in the third qualifier, where Zambora Lou, another brother to Zambora Smokey, remarkably also drawn in two, as were his previous two heat winners, was backed into $2.90 favouritism ahead of the drifting Catch The Thief ($3.10).
Trained by Matt Clark, Catch The Thief had been beaten in three starts – albeit all in Group 1 company – since returning from an undefeated Western Australian campaign, where he won five on end, highlighted by the Group 2 WA Derby.
Catch The Thief was best to begin from box six and made a welcome return to the winners list, accounting for Weblec Jet by 2.41 lengths in 25.62s, boosting his imposing record to 14 from 24, while Zambora Lou was never a factor.
