Group 1 winner Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) is done for the year and will look toward the G1 Ascot Gold Cup in June as her long term goal. Her first outing could be for the Saudi Cup meeting in late February. A winner of the Listed Oyster S. at Galway on Sept. 8, the grey mare landed the G1 Qatar Prix du Cadran at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend. She was looking for her sixth straight win in the G1 Prix Royal Oak, but finished fourth on Sunday.
“She pulled out fine this morning and is in transit as we speak,” said trainer Tony Mullins. “The people looking after her said she looked a bit tired, which I can believe. The way she ran tells me that we’re going to have some action again next year. You might have been worried what she did in the Cadran was a flash in the pan, but she showed me yesterday that she’s a serious trier and we’ll be at the top table again next summer.
“There’s no doubt the 22-day turnaround was just a step too far. I thought she performed admirably under the circumstances. She’ll have a holiday now. There is a chance that we could go to Saudi Arabia in February–if we were sure the ground wasn’t going to be firm, that could come onto the table.
“I’d say the Ascot Gold Cup will be a target. I don’t see us having a busy summer, because I want to leave enough petrol there for the likes of the Prix du Cadran and the race yesterday again. It’s very early to be making definite plans, but my talk of going for the Arc might be gone off the table for the moment–we’re looking at stamina races.”
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