Zoustyle chases wildcard into Magic Millions

By Richard Goodbody

A wildcard into the Magic Millions Snippets will go on the line for Zoustyle on Sunday as the Tony Gollan-trained speed machine looks to maintain his unbeaten record in Queensland.

Fresh off his victory in the Group 3 George Moore Stakes, Zoustyle will need to beat an impressive field, and the handicapper, in the $200,000 Listed Falvelon Quality at Doomben, after being assigned 60 kilograms for the 1200m trip.

The six-year-old son of Zoustar is yet to be beaten from nine starts in the Sunshine State, turning heads last month when he broke the Corbould Park track record en route to victory in the Swiss Ace Plate, and again looks the horse to beat.

TAB immediately installed him as a short-priced favourite, with another Gollan starter, Baller, among the leading contenders.

“It’s a really good race and he’s got a good horse’s weight in at 60 kilos,” Gollan said.

“The funny thing about this Carnival is you go from a Group 3 back to a Listed, so you pay the penalty for winning along the way.

“He’s been a good horse, he kept on winning along the way, so I’m sure it’s going to take a good one to knock him off on Sunday.”

If Zoustyle can stretch his unbeaten record in Queensland to 10, he will secure a wildcard into next month’s Magic Millions Snippets, with Gollan conceding the $1 million feature had been a long-term target.

“It’s always been the plan, it was the plan last summer when things were derailed with a minor injury, so we’re sort of here trying to do it now,” Gollan said.

“We’re under no illusions to how tough it is.”

While Ryan Maloney will pilot Zoustyle in the race, Steph Thornton will climb aboard Baller after running second to his stablemate in the George Moore Stakes.

In his only other run this preparation, Baller placed in the Listed Keith Noud, finishing behind Tambo’s Mate and Stampe, having captured the Group 2 Moreton Cup during the Winter Carnival.

“I think Baller was really good the other day (in the George Moore),” Gollan said.

“The race, the way it was run with scratchings etcetera, really suited Zoustyle. He was able to really control and he was going to be hard to beat from the 600 home.

“I thought Baller was really good, he had to race probably a pair closer to where his actually pattern would be, so it really depends on the make up of the race on Sunday and the amount of speed in it and the amount of pressure up front.

“There’s no doubt Baller is a quality horse, we saw that in the winter, his two runs back in the summer have been fantastic.

“A low draw, and the right run in transit, you’d never say never.”