By Jonathan Murrietta
The wait is finally over. Zenyatta's son Ziconic (Tapit) debuts in a seven-furlong maiden special weight Saturday at Santa Anita for owners Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs.
“We're kind of anxious to see how he performs,” Shirreffs said. “We've waited for this for a long time.”
Shirreffs added that the chestnut colt is more focused than Zenyatta's other progeny, Cozmic One (Bernardini), who finished last by eight lengths in his debut this past April and hasn't hit the board in two lifetime starts.
“Coz was more of an old-time looking Thoroughbred, whereas Ziconic has a big hind end and a strong shoulder,” he said.
Gary Stevens will have the mount aboard Ziconic in Saturday's third race, filling in for compatriot Hall-of-Famer Mike Smith, Ziconic's regular rider in the mornings. Smith has been suspended for three days for a riding infraction incurred Feb. 13.
“I just found out that I was riding [Ziconic] Tuesday afternoon,” Stevens said. “I was flying home from Hot Springs [Arkansas] and I was in the Houston airport talking to my agent on the phone and he said, 'Hang on a sec, John Shirreffs is calling on the other line.' I had dinner with Mike Smith the night before and he told me that he'd been suspended and that he was sad because he'd been working Ziconic and he really wanted to ride him. So anyhow, when my agent said John Shirreffs was calling in, I was kind of hoping it was because he wanted me to ride Ziconic.”
Stevens subsequently drilled Ziconic the next morning at Santa Anita out of the gate going three-eighths-of-a-mile.
“He was very professional,” Stevens said. “I just went really easy with him because it's right on top of the race [on Saturday]. He feels like he's got some gas.”
As far as Ziconic's physical appearance, Stevens concurs with Shirreffs, adding that Ziconic is built like a sprinter.
“He looks like a really good-looking quarter horse,” Stevens said with a big grin. “Ziconic is not a huge horse, just average size, but he's put together well and he acts like he's got a nice sized brain between those ears.”
Whether Ziconic can win at first asking, Stevens won't speculate.
“I'm just going to make sure he gets a really nice experience first time out. I'm going to ride him like a good horse and if he can get there, great, but at the end of the day, with these [young] horses you like to make sure that their first experience is a good experience.”
Foaled on April 1, 2013, Ziconic's journey to the races has been slow and calculated. Peter Sheehan, yearlings manager at Lane's End Farm said that Ziconic as a yearling was very precocious. In the mornings Ziconic trotted around the walker with ease, and like any yearling, began to learn what it felt like to don a saddle.
“Ziconic had a great mind at the farm. He was super well balanced and a great mover and took everything in stride-just a great horse to be around,” Sheehan said.
After Ziconic finished yearling prep at Lane's End, he was shipped to Mayberry Farm in Ocala, Florida, at the end of 2014 to learn the basics of galloping with a rider. Ziconic subsequently worked for Shirreffs at Belmont Park last spring and has been working at Santa Anita Park since December. Successful back-to- back gate drills at Santa Anita landed him a chance to run this Saturday at The Great Race Place. Ziconic drew post five in race three's field of seven.
Shirreffs said it's all about timing when getting Zenyatta-breds to the track.
“We thought this race might suit him when we looked at the condition book,” Shirreffs said. “Winning first time out is really difficult. As wonderful as Zenyatta was, you would hope she would produce something that would at least come close to her greatness. But we'll see Saturday.”
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