Zappa wires Cougar

Gary and Cecil Barber's ZAPPA (Afternoon Deelites) sprinted to the fore when the

gates opened, slowed down the pace on an uncontested advantage, and went on to a 6

1/4-length score in Wednesday's $150,000

Cougar II

H. at Del Mar. By virtue of his facile victory in the 1 1/2-mile event, the

six-year-old gelding guaranteed himself a spot in the Breeders' Cup Marathon at

Santa Anita on October 25.

Trained by John Sadler and ridden by Garrett Gomez, Zappa led by a length

through opening splits in :25 3/5 and :50 2/5, but he had opened a seven-length

cushion by the time he hit the mile mark in 1:41 3/5. He cruised the rest of the

way, passing the 1 1/4-mile mark in 2:06 2/5 before finishing up 12 furlongs in

2:30 2/5 over the Polytrack. Sent off the second favorite at nearly 4-1 in the

seven-horse field, Zappa returned $9.80, $4.80 and $3 to his supporters.

Tissy Fit (Lasting Approval) easily finished second best at 7-1 odds and was

followed under the wire by 3-5 favorite Big Booster (Accelerator), Marsh Side

(Gone West), Trevor's Clever (Stephen Got Even), Fado (Brz) (Nedawi) and Harlene

(Decarchy).

The first foal out of the unraced Theatrical (Ire) mare Julie's Angel, Zappa

raced mostly in claiming races before the advent of synthetic surfaces in

California. He was haltered six times for claiming tags ranging between

$20,000-$40,000, before being taken for $32,000 in April 2007. He made one start

under claiming conditions for Sadler before moving up the class ladder.

Zappa

earned his first stakes victory when taking the San Pasqual H. (G2) in January,

establishing a new track record for 1 1/16 miles over the Cushion Track in 1:39

2/5, and added a second black-type score in the Cougar. Bred in Kentucky by

Madeleine Paulson and Ernest Moody, the bay has now earned $449,032 from a

33-12-2-7 line.