Slovakia had to wait 25 years for the first filly to win the local Derby. This year’s popular winner, German-bred Zoriana, by Jukebox Jury (IRE), out of Zambuka (FR) (Zieten (USA)), is trained by Zuzana Kubovičová and owned PD Senica. The winning owner’s colours were carried to victory in the early 1990s by Quirinus, which then went on the run in the Aintree Grand National.

The winning jockey was Štefan Budovič. This experienced jockey can now consider himself a Derby specialist. “This was my third ride in a Derby, and my second winner. It’s not a bad record!” he commented. His previous Derby winner had been at Budapest, in the Hungarian Derby. He rode Zoriana to victory by a comfortable margin, with a smooth ride.

“We took up a position near the front, which is what she likes. She can be quite difficult. I’ve been riding her for a long time, and I’m used to her ways. She didn’t pull much today, and it was quite a straightforward race. We knew she’s a good filly, and I had confidence in her.”

Trainer Zuzana Kubovičová said, “I believed in the filly. Otherwise we wouldn’t have run her in the Derby. It all worked out. It’s a great feeling after all the problems that she’s had. The owner from Senice has won some races, including the Velka Pardubicka, but he was still waiting for the One Thousand Guineas and the Derby. I’d believed we could win the Guineas with Zoriana, but she had problems with a fracture, and I was advised to do nothing with her for six weeks. She rested for four weeks. She did get to run [and finished 2^nd] in the One Thousand Guineas, but we had to wait until today for the result we’d been hoping for,”

The trainer has won the Slovak Derby in the past, mainly with favourites. This time, the success was not widely expected, and her joy was all the greater. “The win was well deserved. No-one can say we won the Derby somehow by chance. The filly put in a really good performance. When she turned into the straight with a lead, we were confident it would be fine. And that’s what happened. With all respect, none of the others could get near her today.”

Slovak-trained Gaston was well beaten in second place. Aeneas, further behind in third place, was the best of the Czech contenders.

Future plans for Zoriana are not yet clear. The options for the first filly to win the Slovak Derby could include, for example, the Slovak Oaks and the Slovak St Leger.

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Based on an article by Petr Guth, which first appeared on the Czech-language pages of Dostihový svět. Photo by Petr Guth. Translated by Robin Healey.