Gelding gives Tamworth trainer Cup day thrill, with the promise of more

But, every so often a horse comes along.....

Tamworth trainer Melissa Dennett believes she could possibly have found one of those in Zampano.

The gelding was an impressive first-up winner at the Tamworth Cup meeting on April 26, coming from back around sixth/seventh, and wide, swinging into the turn, to kick away away to an easy one-a-half length win.

"He had to do a lot of work and he still went to the line full of running," Dennett noted.

It reinforced the potential she, and others alike, see in him.

"It's a process, it's not easy," she reflected of the training game.

"[But] You dream of these horses that we have here with him, and you keep toughing it out and hope that you're going to get yourself a horse like hopefully we've got in this bloke."

The two-year-old, by Tassort from Gelsomina, was bred by one of Dennett's long-time, and main clients, Geoff Simpson.

"It's really good to see him get himself a nice horse because he's been with me from day one," she said.

Zampano's win came incidentally almost seven years to the dot that the New Zealand-born trainer - who was once a track rider for Gai Waterhouse and before obtaining her licence was a stable foreman for Leon Davies - saddled up her first runner, with the 2017 Tamworth Cup meeting her first as a licensed trainer.

She had two runners that day - Magic Gracie and Rubymay.

Neither finished in the placings, but the following day Kyrgios came out and finished third at Dubbo.

Less than two months later she was celebrating her first winner after Kentuckian took out 1000m maiden plate at the time honoured Talmoi picnic meeting.

Almost seven years on, she has now trained 55 winners... and counting.

As far as her latest, Dennett has had him since he was a yearling.

It has very much been a team operation with partner Brody Cummins, breaking him in.

"We'd always planned this race, so for it to come off, it's a relief for everyone," she said.

"Because there's a lot of pressure."

She revealed that following his trial win at Muswellbrook in March, the ownership, of which she is a part, had received offers from overseas for him.

"The owners have turned those down wanting to race the horse, so obviously you want the horse to win," Dennett said.

Naturally, there have been more since the win.

"But they're just country owners, they want to race, they don't really care too much about the big money," she said.

He is comparatively "only a small horse", but has a "good motor"; Dennett referencing a comment Cummins made to her about six months ago after riding him trackwork one day.

It went something along the lines of "he's a machine".

He also has "a really good attitude".

"He handled himself at the races the other day like a kid's pony. Like he's been there done that, even though he hasn't," she said.

Everything going well, she is looking at the two-year-old race at Gunnedah on their Cup Day.

"Then he'll go to the paddock for winter and we'll bring him back in the spring and look to take him to a TAB Highway or something in Sydney," she said.