Plenty more to come from Zavateri, says Johnson Houghton

Eve Johnson Houghton believes that there is plenty more to come from the unbeaten National Stakes winner Zavateri, thanks in part due to his fantastic will to win.

The son of Without Parole has won all four of his starts to date, most recently when upgrading his brace of Group 2 wins at Newmarket and Goodwood with a top-level success in the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh.

Speaking to host Nick Luck on the latest Luck On Sunday programme, Johnson Houghton revealed that the horse’s winning mentality has always stood out. She said: “He loves to win; he just loves winning.

“I suspect he slightly pulls up in front when he gets there because he got there quite easily [at the Curragh] and then I think he sort of says ‘oh damn it, I'm going to have to go again’.

“He loves winning, which is great, I mean he's just got a great attitude to life, he's got a deadly turn of foot and he loves to win.

“If I could train it into them, I'd be training it into all of them; they either want to win or they don't.”

The National Stakes was the latest Pattern-level success for owners Mick and Janice Mariscotti - whose white and green hoops with dark blue sleeves colours have been carried to great success over the years by such as Dashing Willoughby and Coltrane - but it was their first Group 1 win.

And Johnson Houghton revealed that they are a good team, as she explained: “Mick and Janice are really easy to train for.

“They're great owners - they love it, they get really involved. They come to the sales and they love looking at them. We've all got to agree whether we like them or not.”

It was at last year’s Tattersalls’ October Yearling Sale that Zavateri was picked up for the relatively modest sum of 35,000 guineas, as his trained recalled: “When we looked at him at the sales I thought he was a lovely horse with a great attitude because he looked through his bridle really well.

“He was a little bit tubular - which means that he had good shoulders and a good backside but was a bit thin through the middle - and he's now got a much better depth of girth.

"As soon as he arrived in the yard everyone liked him from the moment he came in. He's just done everything so easily and with a smile on his face. He's just one of those horses that wants to please and loves it.

"I liked him so much that I made mum send a mare to Without Parole and he wouldn't have been the most fashionable stallion.”

Following an expected victory on debut at Salisbury in June, Zavateri was quickly pitched into the Group Two Kingdom Of Bahrain July Stakes at Newmarket.

“I had a long, long chat with Mick and Janice and said ‘well, we could go to a novice and give a penalty to something that's a Group horse or why don't we just go and run in the Group race, see where we are, and we won't be going with any penalty’.

"I said, ‘if we're going to win a Group race, this might be it', and it's not always the strongest Group Two. I said, ‘you want seven, but we'll start at six’.”

The Vintage Stakes at Goodwood quickly followed, with Zavateri having to battle hard for a first success over seven furlongs, and those qualities were on show once again at the Curragh against the imposing Ballydoyle favourite Gstaad.

The Newmarket Darley Dewhurst Stakes in October could be the next port of call, as Johnson Houghton explained: “The last race was quite hard, but he was bucking and kicking on the gallops the other day.

“Obviously, we'll take it day by day; if he says I've had enough of the year, we won't run, but I'm fairly sure there's quite a lot more left in the locker with him.

"He's a two-year-old, and two-year-old colts, whilst they're improving, you just keep running.

"He is 16 hands - Gstaad is enormous so up against him, yes, he did look small - but he is not a small horse.

"He's got a wonderful pedigree, and I can't see why he won't [train on as a three-year-old].”

Though clearly next year’s Classics are in the forethoughts for Zavateri, another strong bunch of two-year-olds this term has been a founding stone for Johnson Houghton’s best ever season in terms of prizemoney, however the Oxfordshire-based trainer is keen not to be pigeonholed as just a good trainer of juveniles.

“Yes, I've got some very nice cheap two-year-olds,” she said. “But I've got some awful ones as well. You have to kiss a lot of frogs.

"Every year I always say I want to train a Royal Ascot winner and a Group winner and I've done it - and a Group 1 winner is great.

"And now I really want to train a Classic winner.

“I've never got over a million pounds in prize money, but I think we're going to do that this year.

“So every year you push yourself a bit more.”

With Zavateri leading the charge and as short as 10/1 for the Betfred 2000 Guineas in May, there's every chance that next season could break down even more barriers.