Emerging stayer Zakouma has booked a ticket into the Melbourne Cup with Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m) victory at Flemington.<\/p>\n
Zakouma<\/a>, trained by Grahame Begg<\/a>, defied the set weight scale on Saturday and in doing so, slid under the guard of the Melbourne Cup<\/a> handicapper.<\/p>\n Zakouma is slated to attract the minimum 51kg for the Melbourne Cup, under the rating based handicapping template.<\/p>\n The lightly-raced gelding, a five-time winner from only 14 starts, won the Andrew Ramsden<\/a> off a 78 rating mark.<\/p>\n \u2022 PUNT LIKE A PRO<\/a>: Become a Racenet iQ member<\/a> and get expert tips \u2013 with fully transparent return on investment statistics \u2013 from Racenet\u2019s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips<\/a> section. SUBSCRIBE NOW<\/a>!<\/p>\n Zakouma, in line for a healthy rating bump for the win, failed to gain a start in the Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) last month due to the low benchmark.<\/p>\n \u201cThat will get his rating up now I guess,\u201d Begg said.<\/p>\n \u201cFull credit to the horse, he beat the weight scale today with his rating.<\/p>\n \u201cThis horse is a true staying horse \u2026 we\u2019ll tailor (spring campaign) around getting him here, fit and well, on the first Tuesday in November.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the set weight Andrew Ramsden conditions, the majority of the field, including unplaced Group 1 Sydney Cup<\/a> winner Changingoftheguard<\/a>, carried 58.5kg.<\/p>\n Changingoftheguard pulled up lame in the near hind leg.<\/p>\n Zakouma surged under jockey Jordan Childs<\/a> to overhaul gallant veteran Pounding<\/a> to win the Andrew Ramsden as Sir Chartwell<\/a> and Suffolk Star<\/a> rounded out the first four.<\/p>\n Begg praised Childs\u2019s execution of the race plan.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were going to try and make it a true staying test,\u201d Begg said.<\/p>\n \u201cI told him be patient \u2026 sit, wait, they\u2019ll come back to you at some stage.<\/p>\n \u201cEven at the 200m I thought he\u2019s still got a bit to do but he\u2019s an extraordinary horse \u2026 aerobic capacity is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Zakouma secured a second Andrew Ramsden for Begg in three years after Lunar Flare won the Cup qualifier in 2023. <\/p>\n Lunar Flare unfortunately missed out on the main event, withdrawn on Cup eve by stewards acting on veterinary advice.<\/p>\n Childs enjoyed the result and performance. <\/p>\n \u201cI probably had a question mark whether he\u2019d get the 2800m coming here today, he proved me wrong and he got the job done,\u201d Childs said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe just wanted to ride him nice and quiet to get the 2800m \u2026 I let him begin where he wanted to begin, we floated back and got into a lovely rhythm.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce I presented him (in the straight) he took a little to wind up but once he did he got stronger and stronger to the line, distance is no problem.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s ticked that off and he\u2019s got an entry into the Melbourne Cup now, so win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n Zakouma shortened $51 into $26 in Melbourne Cup pre-nominations markets headlined by reigning champion Half Yours<\/a> ($9) and superstar Sir Delius<\/a> ($9).<\/p>\n