CUP PROVES ZO SPECIAL FOR PALMER
ZOFFEE ended a “character-building” week for Hugo Palmer with a victory in the Chester Cup.
The three days of Chester’s May meeting have been important dates in Palmer’s diary since the Classic-winner trainer left Newmarket two years ago to take charge of Michael Owen’s Manor House Stables in nearby Malpas.
His first 18 runners at the fixture met with defeat, but Zoffee handed Palmer success in the feature race, bettering his second of 12 months ago.
After watching Harry Davies deliver the eightyear-old to the front inside the final furlong to beat 28-1 shot Emiyn by three-quarters of a length, Palmer said: “It’s a big race in this part of the world. It’s been a character-building week but they’ve been running well and, when a trainer’s horses are running well — and they keep doing so — then the winners are going to come.
“I’ve known Harry a long time.
“His mother, Angie, is my assistant, and he’s been with me since he was seven so, to win this race for us, I’m absolutely delighted.”
Davies and 9-1 winner Zoffee had to squeeze through a gap at the furlong pole and the winning jockey added: “He stuck his head down and the only reason I was ever going to get beat was by being kept in.”
Passenger, who finished 12th of 14 in the Derby at Epsom last June, is primed for a return to the top level after making a winning comeback in the Group 2 Huxley Stakes.