Zazou became the fifth G1 winner for his sire Shamardal when holding off a late challenge from Rio De La Plata and Frankie Dettori to land the Premio Roma at Capannelle.
Trained in Germany by Waldemar Hickst, Zazou has been an admirable campaigner for his owner WH Sport International and was bred by Gestut Fahrhof from the Listed-winning Lomitas mare Zaza Top.
The four-year-old from Shamardal’s first crop has now won four Group races, including the G3 Preis der Spakassen Finanzgruppe at Baden-Baden in August and last year’s G2 Oppenheim Union-Rennen and G3 Preis Dr Busch Memorial. He also finished runner-up in the G1 Deutsches Derby last season.
Shamardal is also the sire of G1 winners Lope De Vega, Casamento, Captain Sonador and Faint Perfume, and of this season’s Derby Italiano winner Crackerjack King. In total, he has 32 individual stakes winners to his name.
