Racing: Concert Hall claims Group 1 glory in Zabeel Classic

Concert Hall takes the Group 1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) in a desperate finish at Ellerslie. Photo / Kirstin Ledington

Two men at very different stages of their careers shared the Group 1 glory of the Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie.

Concert Hall gave 26-year-old co-trainer Robert Wellwood his first Group 1 success while jockey Vinnie Colgan probably can't even remember how many he has ridden at Ellerslie, let alone in his career.

But as important as the come-from-last victory in the $200,000 weight-for-age was for Wellwood, it meant just as much in a different way to Colgan.

The popular jockey was all but forced out of the saddle at the start of this year when a persistent neck injury made riding almost too painful to continue.

It took an operation and months of rehab, not an easy task for a 45-year-old jockey, but Colgan says the hard work had paid off.

"It is great to be back riding at this level and riding pain free," says Colgan.

He wasn't exactly feeling like a Group 1 winner when last at the 800m in a muddling Zabeel, a position Concert Hall probably shouldn't have been able to come from to win.

Yet she did, wearing down fellow high-class mare Supera and In A Twinkling, the latter being over-hauled proof that Te Akau finally weren't totally unbeatable at the meeting.

Colgan has ridden plenty of Group 1 winners for trainer Roger James but that was before Wellwood joined him in partnership and Wellwood was half-stunned after the win.

"It is great to finally get the Group 1 and that was a hell of a way to do it," he said.

"To win it here, in a weight-for-age Group 1 on Boxing Day is perfect, especially with a performance like that."

The first Group 1 for the James/Wellwood partnership takes them to five black-type wins for the season, second on that section of the premiership.

James and Wellwood will now talk with Concert Hall's owner and breeder Joan Egan to see whether she wants to press on to the other legs of the 2000m weight-for-age series in the north, the Herbie Dyke at Te Rapa and the Bonecrusher Stakes back at Ellerslie in March.

Concert Hall's superior finish may have denied Supera a Group 1 before she retires to stud while favourite Rock On Wood's supporters will be left wondering what might have been after he was shut out of a gap going for a rails run at the 200, which jockey Ryan Elliot thinks might have carried him all the way to the winner's circle.