Exciting colt Growing Empire (Zoustar) firmly established himself as a contender for the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud S. in November after winning the Gr.3 HDF McNeil S. at Caulfield on Saturday.
Growing Empire was first-up after a 126-day break, having last been seen winning the Gr.3 Breeders’ S. at Morphettville by 4.5l. Ridden by Mark Zahra, the son of Zoustar was dominant in the contest, with Wonder Boy (Cosmic Force) running best of the rest in second.
Another son of Cosmic Force, Stay Focused, finished third, while the last-start Group 3 winner Band Of Brothers (Omaha Beach {USA}) took fourth.
Maher, who had previously won the Gr.3 HDF McNeil S. with Merchant Navy—who later won the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud S.—told Racing.com, “I’ve certainly got him on the same path.”
“He’s a very exciting colt. I didn’t really tie Mark (Zahra) with too many instructions. If he pinged the lids, we were going to go forward, but he ended up in a perfect spot.
“Growing Empire is just a very progressive colt, and he has started the campaign well. He has always had really good ability and he spelled well at Yulong. The team has done a fantastic job with him, but you can see late there’s still a lot more there.
“He needs a bit more experience, and hopefully now we can get him to Flemington, and he can have a look around there.”
Growing Empire was a $700,000 purchase from the draft of Vinery Stud at the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. He is out of the Snitzel mare Miles Of Krishan, who is also the dam of the Group 3-placed Dancing Alone (I Am Invincible).
This article was written by Keely Mckitterick & Kit Gow for TTR AusNZ.
