Seamie Heffernan will ride Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) in Sunday's G1 Prix Royal-Oak, with regular rider Joey Sheridan serving a 12-day ban for his use of the whip on the 5-year-old mare during her half-length win in the G1 Prix du Cadran on Oct. 3. The Cadran was the pinnacle of a meteoric rise for the Tony Mullins-trained grey; Princess Zoe was purchased from Germany earlier this year off a mark of 64 and has since won five straight races and is now rated 109.
“She's as fit as she can be,” said Mullins. “Seamie sat on her on Sunday. He was very happy with her, and we were very happy with him. Joey is obviously suspended, which is a shame. He got six days for too many strikes with the whip, and they doubled the penalty because it was a Group 1, which is a rule I couldn't find in any rule book anywhere. Anyway, that's the way it goes.
“We're very happy with the mare. All I can say is that in the back of my mind I'm thinking a two-and-a-half-mile race less than three weeks ago has to take its toll at some stage, but there is no evidence at the moment, so we're set to go. We've done all our blood tests, and everything is perfect. I would say the next one is the acid test, in the last 100 metres next Sunday.”
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