Zabeel carried expectations of greatness from the moment he arrived at Cambridge Stud on the same day that Bonecrusher (NZ) (Pag Asa) and Our Waverley Star (NZ) (Star Way {GB}) fought out an epic 1986 G1 Cox Plate.
By a champion stallion in Sir Tristram (Ire) out of a regally bred French mare, Lady Giselle (Fr) (Nureyev {USA}), and bred by Robert Sangster's Swettenham Stud in partnership with then emerging powerhouse Arrowfield Stud, he had all the ingredients to make an impression in the sales ring.
Offered as part of the Ra Ora Stud draft at the 1988 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale, the stunning dark bay colt drew plenty of interest.
In the end, it was Colin Hayes and Hubie de Burgh, acting on behalf of Angus Gold and Sheikh Hamdan's burgeoning global Shadwell business, who landed him for NZ$650,000. It was the third highest price of the Sale, ensuring he would head to Lindsay Park and wear the royal blue with the white epaulettes.
A slow start
David Hayes, then working as an assistant to his father, remembers the expectation CS had for the son of Sir Tristram.
"He (Zabeel) was one of the most expensive yearlings out of New Zealand that year and I remember in his first run he ran dead-set last and Dad went crazy." - David Hayes
That was at Victoria Park in April of 1989, and Zabeel would only make marginal improvement when sixth at Flemington at his next start. Hayes then found the key to getting the best out of the colt and he won his third start, again at Flemington, over 1400 metres.
"We put the blinkers on him and that turned him right around," Hayes said.
Zabeel returned in the spring, winning well at Flemington and then claiming the G2 Moonee Valley S. (now the Bill Stutt S.), before running fourth in the G1 Caulfield Guineas. He was well-fancied in the G1 Cox Plate, but suffered from a virus and would tail the field in, with another Shadwell horse, Almaraad (USA), victorious.
Zabeel would take substantial improvement into the autumn of his 3-year-old season and won the Listed Debonair S., his only win over 1200 metres, on his resumption.
The late sire, Zabeel (NZ)
That set him up for what would be his career-defining performance at the same Flemington racetrack two weeks later.
Guineas glory
The Australian Guineas at Flemington was a relatively new race on the calendar at that point, a brainchild of Victoria Racing Club committeeman Doug Reid, and the 1990 edition was just the fourth run at Group 1 level.
As much as it was the race which made Zabeel as a stallion, he is arguably the horse that made it as a race, with his victory on that February day proving a defining moment in what was still a fledgling concept at that point.
The race was held the day after Colin Hayes' 66th birthday, with the legendary Hall of Fame trainer set to hand over the reins to his son David at the end of the season.
Hayes' career-long rival Tommy Smith had Stargazer (NZ) (Star Way {GB}) engaged, while Bill Mitchell's front-running G1 Victoria Derby winner Stylish Century was another key challenger. Bart Cummings had two horses, a colt, The Oval (Century) and a filly, Reganza (Vice Regal {NZ}), in the race.
Lindsay Park's top jockey, Michael Clarke, took the ride after his brother Gary had deputised in the Debonair, and the Champion jockey delivered the goods.
Jumping well, Zabeel settled midfield, with Clarke able to track the speed set by Ark Regal (Star Way {GB}), with Stylish Century settling outside the pace.
Turning for home, Clarke had a lapful of horse and got him to the outside ready to pounce. While Ark Regal kicked clear, Zabeel was just getting wound up and he seized the lead at the 200-metre mark.
Zabeel won running away by 2.5l from a determined Ark Regal, with Academian (Yeats {USA}), running on into third. Speaking after the race, Colin Hayes coined a phrase which would be used to describe both Zabeel and his progeny for years to come.
Zabeel (NZ) winner of the fifth running of the G1 Australian Guineas
"He has tremendous potential and looks a really top horse," he said. "He's a beautifully actioned colt and is poetry in motion when galloping."
David Hayes reflects on that day very fondly, with the classy colt able to show his very best on a big stage.
"He was so dominant that day and looked the best 3-year-old in Australia," he said.
Adding to the record
Zabeel would be beaten in the G3 Autumn Classic by Stylish Century at his next start but would avenge that with victory in a track record time in the G2 Alister Clark S., surviving a stern challenge and a protest, in a memorable battle down the Moonee Valley straight.
"He was a brilliant miler but he would have been very good over 2000 metres," David Hayes recalls.
"Unfortunately, it rained almost every time when he went that distance and he was a duffer in the wet."
It was the Sydney rain that undid him later in that preparation, but Zabeel had one more win in him, claiming the 1990 Craiglee S., now the Makybe Diva S., at Flemington for his new trainer.
Zabeel (NZ)
"When he came back, he was the dominant weight-for-age horse in the early spring," Hayes said. "He was my first weight-for-age winner when he won the Craiglee. He was just a star. It was a shame he broke down at the peak of his career.
"He was probably the best horse in Australia when he broke down."
Back home to Cambridge
A suspensory injury would end Zabeel's racing career, and while his pedigree and performance made him an ideal stallion prospect, it was no sure thing as the thoroughbred market was in bad shape.
"If he had won the Guineas 10 years later, he would have been worth $30 or $40 million with his credentials. But when he won that, nobody was that interested." - David Hayes
"Australian racing was in depression at the time. Both Bart Cummings and Tommy Smith had had the big fire sales and the market had pretty much tanked. Him winning the Guineas made him a stallion prospect but he was sold for very little money.
"They put him on the market and the best price they could get for him was $500,000, so Dad put in a bid to buy him to stand at Lindsay Park and Sir Patrick Hogan heard that CS was in to get him, so he offered more. Dad couldn't really increase his bid, because he gave top dollar. He lost the horse and the rest is history."
Zabeel headed back to the place of his birth, Cambridge Stud, and would become the most influential Australasian-bred stallion of the late 20th and early 21st century.
He would produce 166 stakes winners, including 46 Group 1 winners and claim 27 separate stallion titles across New Zealand and Australia. Three of his sons emulated his success in the Australian Guineas, Mouawad (NZ) in 1997, Dignity Dancer (NZ) in 1999 and Reset (NZ) in 2004.
Mouawad (NZ) | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
David Hayes had the pleasure of training a fair few of his progeny over the years, and like their sire, they left their mark on him.
"They could take training and the further they went, the better they went. Once they got to that mile and 2000 metres, they had a great turn of foot, just like he did," he said.
"He's an all-time great as a stallion and he would have been an all-time great racehorse if he hadn't done his suspensory."
