Zinzay Makes Next Start in Jessamine

Trainer George “Rusty” Arnold believed Regis Racing’s Zinzay was destined to be a turf horse, and his opinion was validated on Sunday when the Smart Strike filly won by a neck in her debut, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies.

“I never expect them to pull out a victory,” said Arnold. “I expect them to run well. She had trained well and we thought she had performed well, and that’s all you can ask for a 2-year-old first-time starter. Winning is just a bonus.”

Zinzay is the first foal to race out of Music Room, an unraced half-sister to Music Note, who posted Grade 1 scores in the Beldame, Coaching Club American Oaks, Ballerina, and Mother Goose on the dirt; and Musical Chimes, a turf runner who captured the Group 1 Poule D’Essai Des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and Grade 1 John C. Mabee Handicap.

“She likes the grass,” said Arnold. “Her works were better on the grass. I don’t think she is going to see the dirt.”

On Sunday, Zinzay tracked 4-5 favorite Hillhouse High in second before striking to the front in midstretch and asserting herself late under jockey Joe Rocco, Jr. Crown Queen, a half-sister to Royal Delta, finished 3 ¼ lengths behind the winner in third.

“She did everything right,” said Arnold. “She acted good in the paddock, she acted good in the gate. She broke well and did everything the right way. We’re very happy with her. She had trained well, but you don’t know if they are going to do it until they do it.”

Arnold said Zinzay likely will make her next start in the Grade 3 Jessamine on October 9 at Keeneland.

Centre Court, eighth in the Grade 2 Ketel One Ballston Spa on Saturday, has been sent to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. to undergo a nuclear scan, Arnold added.

“She’s sound, but something has gone amiss that I haven’t found,” said Arnold. “I worked hard trying to find it, but I’m missing something. She’s going to be examined on Wednesday morning, and then I’ll get a report from [Dr.Larry Bramlage]. She trained sensationally, but something has changed in the afternoon. She wasn’t comfortable leaving the gate, she had her head in the air, she was bearing out. Nothing was right. Something is there that I’m missing and all of my vets are missing.”

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After several good runs, trainer Bobby Ribaudo scored his first win of the meet Sunday when he sent out Marc Keller’s 3-year-old Tapit filly Quay to win the opener on the card, a mile race on the inner turf course.

Much had been expected of Quay, a $250,000 purchase out of the 2011 Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale auction.

Ribaudo, best known for stars such as Bribon and Grand Couturier, was thrilled with Quay’s victory, but he also wished she wasn’t making just her third career start late in her 3-year-old season.

“It’s gratifying, but it’s also disappointing because you know some of her 3-year-old opportunities have passed,” Ribaudo said. “If she does get better and good, she’ll be up against older horses and will never have had that nice 3-year-old campaign you’d like to see. So, you just go through your conditions. If she earns her way into a better spot, fine. With the purses like they are here, winning a maiden race is like winning a stake anywhere else. So, it’s not the worst thing in the world.”

Quay looked talented, beating 10 other maidens and running the mile in 1:34.39.

“Everything was good,” Ribaudo said. “We’ll see whether she’s going to make the step forward or not. She’s done everything we’ve asked of her. She had a little delay in the action. She had shins; she had a little ankle going on. It might have helped her because she’s not a big horse. Now, she’s filled out really nicely. She’s never going to be a big, tall horse. So, the question was will she get a distance, and I think she answered that yesterday.”