Zanjabeel thinks Eclipse Award after Lonesome Glory win

ELMONT, N.Y. - Zanjabeel returned from a four-month layoff and jumped his way into contention for an Eclipse Award as North America’s leading steeplechase horse with a 1 3/4-length victory in Thursday’s $175,000 Lonesome Glory Steeplechase Stakes at Belmont Park.

It was Zanjabeel’s second Grade 1 victory of the year, having also taken the Grade 1 Iroquois at Percy Warner in Nashville in May.
Zanjabeel hadn’t run since that May 12 three-mile race, but he obviously came into the Lonesome Glory well prepared by trainer Ricky Hendricks.

Under Jack Kennedy, Zanjabeel sat an up-close fourth, racing right behind his stablemate Optimus Prime while Clarcam made all the pace and led over all 10 fences.

Zanjabeel came alongside Clarcam approaching the top of the lane, took over above the eighth pole, and was not threatened during the final stages. Hinterland, second in this race last year, rallied from last to get second by a neck over Optimus Prime, who steadied behind a tiring Clarcam in upper stretch.

Zanjabeel, a 5-year-old Great Britain-bred gelding, covered the 2 1/2 miles in 4:50.24 and returned $5.40 as the 7-5 favorite.

“We were tickled to death with Zanjabeel,” said trainer Ricky Hendricks, who also trained Optimus Prime. “You never know how a horse is going to run coming off a layoff. We only had the horse a year, so we don’t know the horse as well as we know some other horses, but he ran a super race.”

Kennedy, a 19-year-old rider based in Ireland, was riding just his second race in the U.S. His other ride came on Zanjabeel in a stakes at Far Hills, N.J., last October, a race he also won.

“He seems to have improved since the last time I rode him a year ago in Far Hills,” Kennedy said. “I couldn’t believe it when I went out for the [post] parade at how strong he’s getting. He’s certainly improving.”

Hendricks said Zanjabeel will be pointed to the Grade 1, $450,000 Grand National at Far Hills on Oct. 20.

Hendricks said he was pleased with the effort given by Optimus Prime, who picked up eight pounds and was the 158-pound highweight following his Grade 1 victory in the New York Turf Writers’ Cup last month at Saratoga. He was beaten two lengths on Thursday.

“He picked up a lot of weight from his win in Saratoga, which probably when you’re [finishing] that close that probably cost him a little bit,” Hendricks said.

Three Kingdoms finished fourth, followed by Schoodic, Clarcam, and Personal Start. Show Court, winner of the A.P. Smithwick at Saratoga in July, fell over the eighth fence Thursday. Both he and jockey Michael Mitchell were fine.

** One race earlier, Mitchell guided Boss Man to a half-length victory over Ice It in the $75,000 William Entenmann Memorial Steeplechase.

Boss Man led over all nine fences and held Ice It at bay in the lane.

Boss Man, an 8-year-old gelding by English Channel trained by Arch Kingsley, covered the 2 1/4 miles in 4:12.34 and returned $8.10. He was favored by $45 over No Wunder, who finished fourth.