Baltas speaks highly of Chandelier entrant Zapperkat

Zapperkat may have surprised some folks when she won her debut by 5 ¼ lengths at 12-1, but not her trainer.

“No,” said Richard Baltas, who conditions the two-year-old daughter of 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper for J K Racing LLC and Bruce Chandler. “She was always training very well. We thought a lot of her from the start.”

Zapperkat won Aug. 20 at first asking going six furlongs from the rail in a field of nine at Del Mar under Norberto Arroyo Jr., who retains the mount for Saturday’s Chandelier Stakes.

“We were worried about the rail that day,” Baltas said, “but a lot of horses went to the front. We sat behind and she rated behind the speed, closed like a nice horse and galloped out real strong.”

Zapperkat was sold for $27,000 at last year’s September Keeneland sale, but Baltas and his connections ultimately made the original purchaser an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“The horse went through the ring at $27,000,” Baltas said. “Ten minutes later, we offered the guy $45,000 and we had a deal.”

Source: Santa Anita Park