Zipping tries for triple treat

By Paul Pickering
TWO-time defending champion Zipping will be out to create history in Saturday’s Group Two Sandown Classic (2400m), and she may have to beat high-profile stable-mates Efficient and C’est La Guerre to do it.
No horse has ever won the race three times, let alone in consecutive years, but owner Lloyd Williams is confident that his eight-year-old champ can change all that.
The Williams camp has nominated its top three stayers for the $351,000 weight-for-age event, including 2008 Melbourne Cup winner Efficient.
Efficient was equal favourite for the 2009 Cup before being withdrawn due to fitness concerns on the eve of final acceptances. C’est La Guerre went on to run eighth in the Cup.
The star trio will come under even more scrutiny this weekend after Williams announced that Robert Hickmott will be replacing John Sadler as the head trainer of his talent-laden stable.
Hickmott will be searching for his first win as a licensed trainer on Saturday.
A Zipping victory would be a great story, particularly after his dramatic scratching from the Mackinnon Stakes a fortnight ago, when he slipped and became trapped underneath the barriers.
Zipping’s weight-for-age form is as solid as ever. His third in the Cox Plate was one of the runs of the race.
Others to nominate for the Classic include 2007 Caulfield Cup winner Master O’Reilly and Peter Snowden-trained Purple, coming off a brilliant win in the Group Two Matriarch Stakes at Flemington on Emirates Stakes Day.
Snowden has also nominated emerging star Kidnapped for Saturday’s other feature race, the Group Two Sandown Guineas (1600m).
The fast-finishing three-year-old is coming off an eye-catching win in the Group Three Carbine Club Stakes on Derby Day. He could face stiff opposition from the likes of It’llbefantastic and Silver Spur, which finished first and second respectively in the Listed Hilton Stakes last Saturday.
The nine-race card also includes the Group Three Race-Tech Stakes and four listed events as the Spring Carnival draws to a fitting close.