Karl Zechner shooting for breakthrough Queensland winner

By Jordan Gerrans

Hoop Karl Zechner is optimistic a maiden Queensland victory on the Sunshine Coast’s Polytrack on Wednesday afternoon will snowball into more opportunities and winners.

The 34-year-old Zimbabwean-born jockey has recently relocated to the Sunshine State after plying his trade in South Australia over the last couple of years.

The multiple Group 1-winning rider has gone 22 engagements in Queensland without yet breaking through and he is hopeful Zeebling, for trainer Robert Heathcote, might just be his first triumph in his new home.

The three-year-old Sebring filly has improved in each of her five career starts and ran home well last start at Ipswich to finish in the money for the first time.

In just a small field on the Polytrack, Zechner, who has ridden the filly in her two races and one trial this time in, feels Zeebling has found a suitable race over a mile.

“She is getting better as the prep goes on,” Zechner said.

“I think she will be very close, the last start it was a little bit short but she ran a good race.

“If it was an extra 25 or 40 metres, I think it would have been even closer.

“It looks like this race on Wednesday will be a good race for her.”

The light-weight hoop was amongst the more consistent riders in his stint in South Australia, picking up almost 100 winners in his two years as a Croweater.

Riding work at Eagle Farm, and once a week on the Gold Coast, from his Logan base, Zechner has been appreciative of the opportunities he has received so far and is keen to repay the stables that have got behind him.

“I am getting quite a bit of support, thank goodness for trainers like Chris Munce and Robert Heathcote, they have really helped me out,” he said.

“It has been a slow start for me, it has been tough, but it is always expected coming to a new place.

“I have been lucky to get the support from them and I am aiming to work hard. Once you get the monkey off your back, hopefully it can be a snowball effect for me.”

While he was established in the SA riding ranks, the move to Brisbane had family in mind for Zechner, just like the decision to depart South Africa, alongside wife Lauren and children Riley and Declan.

Zechner had piloted almost 600 winners before arriving in Australia, with one of his highest career accolades being the jockey of just the third horse in South Africa to complete their Triple Crown.

“It was mainly just family, we wanted to be closer to our extended family up in Brisbane,” he said.

“It is very important for the kids.

“We have extended family up here.

“I was doing really well in South Australia, getting a few winners, but it was about the support from the family side to move to Queensland.

“It was a very tough decision to make, to move over here when you are going so well.”

It will be Zechner first experience on the Sunshine Coast’s Polytrack on Wednesday after racing was also held on the new track on Tuesday afternoon in Queensland.

He has experience on the surface, riding on it in South Africa earlier in his career.

Zechner says he understands how to ride on the Polytrack and believes jockeys’ tactics need to adjust a little bit compared to what their plans would usually be on the turf.

Gold Coast Turf Club Hall of Fame member Helen Page trained a winner on the Polytrack last Wednesday and is a big fan of the new surface on offer to race in Queensland.

Page’s Kerrisdale broke her maiden status at the track last week, just as Zechner is looking to do on Wednesday with Zeebling.

“She is a beautifully bred mare and she loved it,” Page said of Kerrisdale on the Polytrack.

“She is a lot stronger now and maybe she will be a horse to bring here all the time.”

Zechner spoke with fellow former African rider Jeff Lloyd before making the call to relocate to Queensland and is mates with Mark Du Plessis after the pair rode together in New Zealand earlier in their careers.