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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Annabel Neasham says she does expect superstar Zaaki to repeat his spring premiere from 12 months ago when he resumes in the Group 2 $200,000 GPI Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday – but she’s certainly not taking the result for granted.

Trainer Annabel Neasham (Pic: Bradley Photos)

With due respect to his 2021 combatants, Neasham is wary that the eight-year-old is facing stiffer opposition in Saturday’s renewal but as far as his preparation for the race is concerned it’s gone like clockwork.

It’s no surprise given his record and his standing that Zaaki looms large over the Tramway as an odds-on favourite with TAB.

“I’d love him to win and I hope he does win, and I suppose you can somewhat expect him to,’’ Neasham said on Melbourne radio on Thursday.

“But you’re very respectful of your opposition, Profondo ran third in the Winx Stakes the other day and has a run under his belt and Converge is a very good horse as well.

“For us it is a starting point for Zaaki, it’s hard to have them fully wound up for every run and our main aim is for him peaking fourth-up.

“He has got a little bit of improvement to come, he’s not 100 per cent fit going into it but it's no different to last year or any other preparation.”

Neasham has given Zaaki two barrier trials into this year’s Tramway, as opposed to just the one last year when he campaigned into mid-June in Brisbane.

It’s his last run up north that the Warwick Farm trainer regards as one of only two “poor” performances since he arrived in Australia and said his defeat in the Group 1 Doomben Cup, run over 2100m at Eagle Farm, could likely be a result of the toll from a couple of testing heavy track runs.

“He pulled up absolutely fine,’’ she said.

“It’s just a reminder to not only myself but to the punters that these horses are not robots, they’re not machines, and they do get beaten when they’re favourite.

“I’m not sure what I put it down to. He had a tough run on a very wet track in the Queen Elizabeth and then another tough run on a really wet track in the Hollindale and maybe he just had enough.

“He had a nice spell and he’s come back as good as ever. No different to 12 months ago really. We know he is going to get better as he gets over further.”

James McDonald is Zaaki’s partner for the Tramway but Neasham is well aware the champion jockey will have a decision to make as the spring progresses given his association with Godolphin star Anamoe.

Neasham is keen to see the two headline acts meet as much as possible, and that could perhaps come in the Group 1 $1m Fujitsu General George Main Stakes (1600m) on the first day of the Everest Carnival in two weeks.

“I think it’s good for racing, good for sport, I’d like to see them race against each other and not just once,’’ she said.

“It’s great having these high profile horses meeting. We’ve locked in what we hope is the first run and the fourth run and just keep an open mind with those two runs in between.”

While Neasham has had no headaches with Zaaki, the same couldn’t be said after Mo’unga’s first-up failure in the Winx Stakes but she’s adamant it’s a run he can be forgiven for.

Zaaki runs second in a Hawkesbury trial on August 22

The five-year-old failed to beat a runner home behind Anamoe two weeks ago and will be out for redemption in the Group 2 $250,000 Daily Press Chelmsford Stakes (1600m).

It was an uncharacteristic performance to say the least by Mo’unga.

“I think he got too far back and I don’t think Tommy (Berry) got out and got rolling on him early enough,’’ Neasham said on RSN.

“He didn’t get the chance to because he was boxed in so I think it was almost a forget run.

“He’s always needed to build up his revs from the 500m, sometimes the 600m, so as long as he can get that room I think we will see him bounce back this weekend.”

Stablemate Numerian kicks off his spring in the Chelmsford, his first start since winning the Q22 in Brisbane, and while Neasham expects he’ll excel later in the campaign she’s expecting a positive return.

“He’s a horse that wants to get over a bit more ground but he has come back quite sharp this time in. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him run a cheeky race,’’ she said.

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting