Jockey Zac Lloyd continued his strong streak of domination this Saturday with a win in the Group 3 Dark Jewel Classic (1400m) atop four-year-old mare Fall For Cindy. The young jockey expertly guided the mare to victory after a tricky start where Fall For Cindy got trapped in the inside, just where Lloyd did not want her.
Race favourite Shadows Of Love ($3.80) finished third, behind Fall For Cindy and five-year-old mare Banana Queen ($6.50).
All eyes were on Zac Lloyd at the Group 3 $250,000 Dark Jewel Classic (1400) on Saturday. The 20-year-old promising jockey came into this marquee Scone carnival race following a score at the Listed Denise’s Joy Stakes on Commemorative and after trebles in the Hawkesbury Rush and Takeover Target Stakes just weeks earlier.
Lloyd started this race slowly, but eventually rose to the occasion. In his own words, the jockey said that Fall For Cindy is in great form, but the race did not start well for him or his horse.
What a win, she is in flying form, but the race could not have gone worse for us in the first half,” Lloyd said.
“We were two pairs further back than what I would have liked and then I went back to the inside which I was trying to avoid, but she was very comfortable on that surface. The tempo was nice, and as soon as I asked her for an effort, she quickened really well.”
That last line is a bit of an understatement by the 20-year-old Lloyd. He deftly pulled Fall For Cindy out of her tough start to finish the race as winner by 1-¼ lengths.
Fall For Cindy sprinted through the inside channel, beating out Banana Queen and Shadows Of Love, the horse racing betting sites favourite.
Fall For Cindy is one of trainer John O’Shea’s most promising mares. The man himself was not at the race on Saturday. However, his representative. Tom Charlton was there to speak on the impressive race.
“Our aim with her was to try and get black type this preparation so that is a great win,” Charlton said.
“She’s racing in very good form, she’s really thriving and loves the sting out of the track. We might look at Queensland with her now”
