Group 1 winner Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), the Cartier Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, will only run in the May 7 G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas if she runs in a trial race first, owner Marc Chan's racing manager Jamie McCalmont revealed on Thursday.
He said, “If she's ready to run in a trial, then she could run in a trial, but we wouldn't run in the Guineas without a run.
“Her form is solid–she never ran a bad race last year and was unlucky not to be unbeaten. But we wouldn't go and run her straight away in the Guineas without a trial and we are under three weeks away now from those races. We'll have to see, there's nothing wrong with her, but we'll see.”
The G3 Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn S. at Newmarket on Apr. 19, as well as the G3 Dubai Duty Free S. at Newbury three days later are both under consideration for the four-from-five runner. Unbeaten in her first two starts, including a listed race at Newmarket over six furlongs, the Ralph Beckett trainee was a good second to 'TDN Rising Star' Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. in July. The bay won her final two starts of the year–the G3 Princess Margaret Keeneland S. later that month and the G1 Cheveley Park S. to sign off her juvenile season in September.
“Plans are fairly open with her at this stage. If she wasn't ready in time for one of those races, I would be very surprised if we went in the Guineas–we would probably just stay sprinting then, but we will see,” McCalmont said.
“When you have a horse that gives you everything, you don't really want to make her do something she's not bred or built to do. The Guineas is an open enough race–the Dermot Weld filly [Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr})] I think was the really top filly last year. But Lezoo beat Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never) last time and she came back and won at the Breeders' Cup with ease, so the form is solid.”
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