By Tom Frary
Insulted at 8-1, Zavateri (Without Parole) stepped up again as he had at Newmarket to make light of a three-pound penalty in Tuesday's G2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood. Impressive in the G2 July Stakes, Mick and Janice Mariscotti's great-grandson of Zarkava was again forced to race wide without cover but once more produced that emphatic turn of acceleration for Charles Bishop to swamp the leaders a furlong out and hold Morris Dancer (Palace Pier) by a short head. Do Or Do Not (Space Blues) was in the frame for the third time in a Group race, 1 3/4 lengths away in third.
Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton was impressed. “He had to win his race twice, he amazes me, what a dude he is,” she said. “He is so straightforward at home, through the race and is not a hard ride so touch wood long may it last. We had to go somewhere with a Group Two penalty and I thought if he was beaten here it would be because of that, but it didn't beat him. He cut through the pack like a knife through butter and was going again at the end.”
All roads lead to the Dewhurst now in October and an attempt to follow Fulke Johnson Houghton's example in 2002. “Dad trained Tout Seul when I was around and he was brilliant, but this one would be better, I think,” the trainer added. “I had it in my mind he would have a nice break until the Dewhurst, so we'll have to wait for that.”
John Gosden said of Morris Dancer, “We are thrilled with him–he had a little niggle and cough after winning at Haydock and has come here off the minimum work and run a great race. The winner is by an old friend of ours in Without Parole and Morris Dancer is by Palace Pier, so it is nice to see your old pals in Group Two races like this. William [Buick] said don't be frightened to step up to a mile with him and we will do that somewhere.”
Ed Walker quipped of the third, “Do Or Do Not doesn't! I am probably more frustrated than I have been the other times when he was placed because, watching it, I actually thought he was going to come and win his race and he still didn't quite. He is a really solid horse and we are throwing the kitchen sink at him. He keeps answering. We might just try to find a slightly lower race–not a maiden because there isn't any point–to give him some confidence.”
Thriller
Despite conceding weight all round, digs deep to fend off the strong late challenge from Morris Dancer in a cracking finish to the @Coral Vintage Stakes.@johnsonhoughton ✊ | @bishopcharlie12 ✊ pic.twitter.com/QQJG07AGR4
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 29, 2025
Pedigree Notes
The Aga Khan Studs may be ruing letting go of the unraced Zeroua (Siyouni), a granddaughter of the mighty unbeaten champion Zarkava (Zamindar) whose six top-level victories include the pinnacle Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and both the domestic fillies' Classics. Bought by Mark McStay's Avenue Bloodstock for €90,000 at the 2021 Arqana December Sale, this already-valuable juvenile machine is only her first offering.
Her dam was the similarly unraced Zerkaza (Dalakhani), who produced one Stakes performer in Sea The Stars' dual Australian Group 3 winner Zeyrek and who is a half to Dubawi's G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud-winning sire Zarak and the G1 Prix Vermeille-placed Zarkamiya by Without Parole's sire Frankel. The latter is in turn the dam of this year's promoted Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner and Coronation Stakes runner-up Zarigana by Zeroua's sire Siyouni. Zeroua's second foal is a yearling filly by Ghaiyyath and a colt foal by Baaeed.
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