Popular stable veteran Prince Ziggy reached a new milestone with Emsley Lodge when showing his trademark courage to score at Sandown on Wednesday.
The nine-year-old landed his 12th career win and joins Sand Belt and Straight Legs as the most prolific winners for the stable.
“Ziggy’s” victory in the Lady Of Racing Finalist Annie de Morton (BM70) was at his first test over 3000 metres and he could not have been more impressive beating Noonday Gun by nearly a length with He’s On Form another 1-1/2 lengths away third.
Trainer Jamie Edwards said Prince Ziggy was as sound as ever after 76 starts and that there was every chance the Monaco Consul gelding would run in a similar race in about two weeks.
“He’s an absolute beauty,” Jamie said.
“Horses like him are a godsend for a small country stable like ours and he never stops giving 100 per cent.”
“We bought him as a yearling and he was only lightly raced as a three and four-year-old which no doubt has helped with his longevity.”
Prince Ziggy made his race debut as a late two-year-old in July 2016 and first won race as a four-year-old just over a year later at Warrnambool.
On Wednesday, apprentice Thomas Stockdale helped Prince Ziggy with his 1.5kg claim and the young jockey could not have wished for a better ride.
“He began well and once he got across he had a lovely time (in second place).
“At the 800m he was actually wanting quicken without me asking him so down the dip to 600m I let him stride and he worked beautifully through his gears and wasn’t stopping going to the line.
“He’s just an old dude. He does everything right and he makes my job easy.”
Such is Prince Ziggy’s prominence, he has been part of the stable’s last two city winning doubles.
On Wednesday, he and stablemate Little Miss Gutsaa both won while he scored on the same day as another stablemate Macrobius at Moonee Valley December 14, 2018.
Prince Ziggy has now won twice at Sandown while his other wins have been on country tracks at Warrnambool, Wangaratta, Avoca, Wodonga, Stony Creek (Cup), Geelong (Ballan Cup), Traralgon (Cup), Swan Hill and Cranbourne.