put herself in the Classic equation with a stylish display in the Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes at
.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the daughter of Dubawi finished behind some smart rivals on her first two outings before breaking her duck impressively at Southwell in November.
Owned by Juddmonte, she was sent off at 9-1 for this renowned Group Three and was ridden confidently in the early stages by Kieran Shoemark.
As the race developed, Zanzoun moved effortlessly to the head of affairs before galloping on powerfully to register a taking one-and-three-quarter-length success over Ollie Sangster’s Celestial Orbit, another to finish strongly from off the pace.
Andrew Balding’s Remaat claimed third, but Charlie Appleby’s 15-8 favourite Verse Of Love was amongst those to finish well held further down the field.
The winner earned a quote of 8-1 for the French 1,000 Guineas from Paddy Power and John Gosden said: “I think she’d be fine on good ground, she just wouldn’t want it rattling firm.
“She handled the ground today, she’s a nice filly who has not been over-raced and she’s trained well this spring.
“She could do that (French Guineas), that could well be the case. I’ll talk to the family and see what they want to do. There is a very good Aga Khan filly we saw the other day in the Prix de la Grotte (Zarigana), but it’s lovely to win here and we’ve got nice plans to make.”
Barry Mahon, European racing manager for Juddmonte, said: “She’s a filly we thought a lot of last year, so it’s not entirely a surprise and it’s a good result.
“She’s not in the (English) Guineas, but she is in the French Guineas, so we’ll speak to the trainer and the owner and see what they’d like to do.
“Red Letter is still a possible for the Guineas here. She’s got a few more bits of work to do, but she’s still on the list and we’ll firm it up in the next week I’d say.”