Zestful carrying legacy of Abercrombie in Winsham Lad
Zestful will represent the breeding program of the late Josephine Abercrombie on Sunday, when he attempts to win his third consecutive stakes race in the $65,000 Winsham Lad Handicap at Sunland Park.
The one-mile race for 4-year-olds and up launches the track’s handicap series. It includes the $75,000 Curribot at 1 1/16 miles on March 5 and the $100,000 Sunland Park Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on April 2.
Zestful is the 124-pound highweight for the Winsham Lad, which drew a field of six. The group includes Mine That Star, a half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, and Favorable Outcome, who was a Grade 2 winner at 3.
Zestful is a son of Ghostzapper and the mare Sweet Relish, and he was bred in Kentucky by Abercrombie’s Pin Oak Stud. Sweet Relish was a stakes winner for Abercrombie, who died earlier this month.
“It was inspiring to work with equine athletes of the quality she cultivated,” said Donnie Von Hemel, who trained Sweet Relish. “Pin Oak Stud left no stone unturned. All the best was provided by her and her staff. Each horse had an opportunity to be the best it could be.”
Zestful, who races for Stable HMA and is trained by Bart Hone, started his stakes streak on Oct. 17 with a win in the $75,000 Bull Dog at Fresno. One start later, the horse shipped from California to New Mexico and captured the $75,000 Zia Park Championship by a head over Tenfold on Nov. 23. He’s since been working at Sunland in advance of the Winsham Lad.
Rigo Sarmiento has the mount from post 5.
Mine That Star finished third in the Zia Park Championship. He’s made one start following the race, running second in a conditioned allowance at a mile on Jan. 1 at Sunland. Favorable Outcome, an 8-year-old who at 3 won the Grade 2 Swale Stakes, dominated the allowance by more than eight lengths. He will break from the rail under Miguel Perez, while Mine That Star starts from post 3 under Francisco Amparan
Nancy Summers trains Mine That Star for Judge Lanier Racing. The horse is by Pioneerof the Nile and out of Mining My Own, who is the dam of $2.2 million earner Mine That Bird and $1.7 million earner Dullahan.
Favorable Outcome is owned by Cindy Evans Perez and Amy Hardy and trained by Dick Cappellucci.
The field is rounded out by stakes winners Wilmas Irish Rover and Convention and the multiple stakes-placed Beckham James.