Ziconic More Than Memorable in Debut

Ziconic brought back good and bad memories for John Shirreffs all in one shot during his debut Feb. 20 at Santa Anita Park.



The Jerry and Ann Moss homebred and son of 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta looked both like his mother and half brother Cozmic One early on in his debut, a seven-furlong maiden special weight event Saturday.



A slow break had him well back early, and his deficit expanded to 15 3/4 lengths behind early leader One More Round after a half-mile in :44.34. He was even 10 lengths behind his closest competitor in the seven-horse field.



"I thought, 'Oh my goodness. Come on. I hope something changes,'" Shirreffs said, recalling the first two runs by Cozmic One, Zenyatta's first foal, when the Bernardini   colt similarly trailed early but didn't make up any ground.

BALAN: Cozmic One Lacks Late Kick in Debut



What came next was somewhere in between his half brother and his mother. The 3-year-old Tapit   colt unfurled a reminiscent, furious rally, but couldn't quite get to the wire first. In the end, he came up 1 3/4 lengths short in third, behind first-time starter Fast Munny and Dalmore, but he gave Shirreffs that thrill again.



"He responded very well. ... You always have big expectations. You dream," Shirreffs said. "With Zenyatta, we realized the dream. Now you dream about her foals. They bring part of that dream back."

For jockey Gary Stevens, who replaced expected rider Mike Smith after a suspension, the whole event was somewhat surreal.



"We knew he was going to break slow and it took him a little while to get wound up," Stevens said. "I was at the three-eighths pole and was so far back. I said, 'Buddy, your mama could win from here, can you?' "



"I never got to ride the big mare, Zenyatta, but I know what it felt like now... I've never been cheered for finishing third in a maiden special weight before."



Shirreffs said after the race that Ziconic will likely race next in a two-turn maiden special weight race.