THIS awesome £650,000 horse with ‘a hell of an engine’ was instantly made a Royal Ascot favourite after an astonishing debut.
Word had been strong for Karl Burke’s Wathnan-owned two-year-old filly Zelaina ahead of her bow over 5f at Nottingham.
GettyZelaina was instantly made a Royal Ascot favourite after absolutely blistering debut at Nottingham[/caption]
But even jockey James Doyle was taken aback by the ease with which she obliterated rivals after bursting out the gates.
Making all, she sauntered over the line ahead of 4-1 Secret Oath, the three-quarter length margin of victory flattering the runner-up.
Punters branded the breeze-up buy an ‘absolute weapon’ and said she was ‘the one we were waiting for’ – as bookies immediately made her favourite for the Queen Mary.
Burke and Doyle teamed up to win it with Leovanni last year.
And Zelaina is now Ascot-bound for the Group 2 on Wednesday, the second day of the five-day festival.
Clearly buzzing afterwards, Wathnan’s retained rider Doyle said: “She’d been doing the right things at home.
“She wasn’t 100 per cent coming here, she’s a had a couple of things that meant she needed an easy time.
“But Karl said she’s very fast and she’s shown she has an engine.
“She caught me by surprise out the gates – then up into that stride and away she went.
“She’s quite hot so we’ll do a few things to iron that out ahead of Ascot.
“But she’s got a hell of a big engine and a plenty of pace.
“I was the last person to pull up but she just stood so I let her relax then just trotted her back.
“She took quite a blow at the furlong pole but I expect her to come along fitness-wise.
“She didn’t have the perfect prep coming into today… so expect her to improve a lot.”
Bookies introduced Zelaina as 4-1 joint-fav alongside Lady Iman.
But they were immediately forced to cut her and now she is a best 7-2 fav with the likes of William Hill.
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