Zouvilla Races to Another Win for Joanna

Regally bred gelding Zouvilla might have fallen short of expectations in the south, but he’s continuing to boost the career of popular Townsville trainer Joanna Hassett.

The son of Zoustar and Villa Bled, once trained by the Freedmans in Sydney and Tony Golan in Brisbane, landed his second Cluden win for Hassett on yesterday’s card.

Hassett has only four horses in work and was thrilled with the win, aided by a faultless ride by apprentice Krysten Swaffer.

“I’ve always been happy to train my own but Zouvilla’s wins might lead to a few more owners coming along,” Hassett said.

“Most of the horses I get have issues and sometimes they’ve been knocked back by other trainers before they come to me. I call myself ‘Hand Me Down Lodge’,” she joked.

“Zouvilla was always thereabouts with Tony Golan in Brisbane. They had a big opinion of him but he probably went as far as he could go there.

“He’s an on pace horse and suited to racing up here and his owner Mick Waters, who’s been in him since he was a yearling, decided to bring him up.

“In his first prep he struggled a bit to acclimatise but he’s really settled now and racing well.

“Krysten got him to settle and gave him a nice run and he was very strong with the light weight.”

After enjoying an economical run in third on the fence, Zouvilla finished strongly in the last 200m to beat leader Strike A Beau by a half-length.

Hassett also saddled up Simply Splashing in the TAB Open Hcp but he raced without luck finishing a close fourth to the barnstorming Danawi.

Ridden by Denny Smith, Danawi finished brilliantly to score a narrow win for trainer Chris Attard who relocated his team to the city in early August.

Graham Kliese took riding honours with a winning double aboard the highly impressive Molongle Surprise in the Brown Brothers B70 Hcp and Trapassi in the B60 Hcp.

The wins also landed a unique mother-son double for Cheryl Williams who prepares Trapassi and Ben Williams who trains  Molongle Surprise.

Pictured: Jockey Krysten Swaffer guides Zouvilla to another win for Joanna Hassett. 

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