The strength of being the first foal of the entire Godolphin crop born two years ago proved pivotal when Zulfiqar fought off a determined challenge to score on debut.
The win in the Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1000m) on Saturday gave Godolphin and trainer James Cummings their second win in the past three years after Ingratiating scored in 2020.
Ridden by Ben Melham, Zulfiqar ($8) scored by a neck from Aditi ($6) with the $2.50 favourite Charm Stone a further 1-¼ lengths away third.
Cummings said Zulfiqar being the first born of the 2020 foal crop was an advantage for the two-year-old, especially early in the season.
“He’s mature and he’s bigger than most of his colleagues back in the barns,” Cummings said.
“But he’s got a bit of speed about him, and Ben Melham was able to use that. He used his pace out of the gates and got him into stride using that inside running rail.
“That’s so advantageous to a young horse.
“It’s a great credit to all my staff at Crown Lodge who have just nursed this horse along, brought him in prep by prep and had him ready to go even for the Breeders Plate.
“But I just did not want to run the horse on a rain-affected track and there was Flemington with Liam O’Keefe having this track perfect laying in wait for us.”
Cummings said Zulfiqar had scope for improvement and would benefit from the racetrack appearance.
While Godolphin were accepting congratulations for the success of Zulfiqar, not all went to plan with stablemate Pantelone who was withdrawn after he could not be saddled.
“He just didn’t take to the swabbing process well,” Cummings said.
“The first needle wasn’t working well, so another needle had to go in on the other side of his neck.
“They’ve got to do what they’ve got to, but if the two-year-olds don’t cop it sweet and they’re not in the right headspace it’s just going to be disappointing and dangerous for everyone, so we pulled him out.
“He’ll go back to the trials and fight another day because he’s not a bad little horse.”