Snowden, Peter, sustains his superb rapport with the Hawkesbury independent meeting by landing the Gold Rush with impressive quickster Zealously among his high-profile conquests.
Ever since the schedule began, Snowden has lent support and notched seven Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) results alongside five Guineas (1400m) wins, making up his 18 major afternoon race strikes.
Zealously at $4 favourite took command early and withstood pressure to capture the $200,000 Hawkesbury Gold Rush (1100m) on Saturday by 1-1/2 lengths margin to Bev’s Nine ($10), Monte Supreme ($7) next in line, backmarkers not gaining much ground.
The trainer was thrilled with the four-year-old’s stakes breakthrough and shared his early concern over the “doughy” track state, suiting Zealously’s firm-track style less.
“I was a little bit worried when I saw the track today. You wouldn’t want it any wetter for him,” Snowden said.
“But I thought he’d be able to control the speed and when he got a soft sectional between the 400 and the corner, he was going to be hard to beat.”
Avoiding Scone carnival, Snowden eyes Brisbane winter raids for Zealously.
Dry tracks would open doors to Queensland engagements for the speedster.
“I think we will look at Brisbane with him now,” he said.
“I’ve got Fire Star and King Of Sparta for Scone, so I’m just trying to spread them around.”
With jockey Tom Sherry, the horse displayed more poise this preparation and superior settling ability.
“Once he can control a race like that, he’s always going to be very competitive,” Sherry said.
“I feel as though he’s relaxing a lot better this preparation than in his previous ones, which will stand him in good stead going forward.”
Keen followers should check the latest racing odds on sites covering the Hawkesbury Gold Rush betting markets.