The calibre of stablemates Persian Wonder and Krasina was evident as both achieved maiden victories at Canterbury, with Persian Wonder’s win being particularly hard-fought.

Persian Wonder, who had demonstrated potential in significant autumn two-year-old contests, including a runner-up finish in the Group 3 Baillieu Handicap (1400m), settled in second position and appeared to be under considerable pressure approaching the home turn in Wednesday’s Robrick Lodge Handicap (1200m).

Under strong urging from jockey Zac Lloyd, the colt fought on gamely in the closing stages to overcome the leader Yoshida by a clear length, recording a gritty triumph.

“It’s obviously not the way to ride him, but I thought I’d give him every chance to tough it out, and that he did,” Lloyd stated. “As you can see in his past few replays, he is quite a lazy horse and he’s going to benefit when he gets a bit of headgear on. We’ve just got to wait for him to be mentally ready.

“I knew he was going to keep responding, and once he got a couple of reminders, he really stretched and went on with the job.”

The successful combination of Lloyd and trainer David Payne struck again a race later when Krasina ($1.80 fav) overcame a luckless third placing behind Why So Hard at Randwick last month to break her maiden in the Bisley Workwear Handicap (1200m).

While Payne was not on course, Lloyd expressed his satisfaction at securing a midweek double for the respected horseman, noting the long-standing rapport between the Lloyd and Payne families, including Zac Lloyd’s father, Jeff Lloyd.

” Lloyd and Payne go a long way back, so it’s good when I can ride winners for David,” Zac Lloyd said. “It was good to see her be able to put herself in a spot where you’re not relying so much on luck.

“The form was there. She was the best horse in the race, so I rode her accordingly and she has done that very comfortably.”

Despite a small team, Payne has a promising group of rising three-year-olds, with Bangkok Hottie, a Randwick winner in April, scheduled to trial at Rosehill on Friday in preparation for the Princess Series.

Betting markets for the Canterbury races are now open at leading Australian betting sites.

Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif opined that Zimbabwe must be relishing the opportunity to face a vulnerable Team India, who are on the back of a seven-match winless run after series losses in Ireland and England. The Shreyas Iyer-led side recently lost the No.1 ranking in T20Is and will face Zimbabwe in a three-match series in Harare, from July 23 onwards.

Team India are in dire straits at the moment after the recent string of losses, with Shreyas Iyer facing a nightmare start as captain since taking over from Suryakumar Yadav. The defending T20 champions showed glaring cracks in their setup and are on the lookout to get back to winning ways in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe have lost both their recent home series against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but pose a challenge to an Indian side far from their best in terms of confidence and prowess. The visitors have a second-string bowling attack, with a lot of new faces eager to make a statement.

Mohammad Kaif noted that the demoralised Indian side will face a challenge in the form of a motivated Zimbabwe team looking to replicate Ireland’s recent heroics.

“At this time, Zimbabwe must be sharpening their bats and swords because the state in which Indian cricket is in, they will be thinking, ‘We have a chance’. The situation we are in is really very bad. You have lost all the T20Is, won one ODI, and lost that series as well. So, the overall morale is down,” he said on Cricbuzz.

“We had defeated Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 match in Chennai, but the form and the state we are in, Zimbabwe will certainly fancy their chances now of defeating India,” he added.

The two sides had faced each other in a high-scoring contest just a few months before. On that occasion, the Men in Blue won by 72 runs despite Brian Bennett’s memorable heroics during the run chase.

“This is a good opportunity to try out some new players” – Zaheer Khan on new Indian players being included in ZIM vs IND 2026 T20Is

The selection committee sprang several surprises while naming the squad for the Zimbabwe tour. The biggest takeaway was Sanju Samson being dropped, while new names like Yash Thakur, Prabhsimran Singh and Ashok Sharma, earned their first call-up.

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan feels that the Zimbabwe T20Is presents itself as a solid avenue to shake things up after the usual combination failed to deliver in Ireland and England.

“Who you are playing against is a matter of later, what matters is how you approach these games. We have seen it before as well that in T20 format, everyone has a good opportunity. This is a good opportunity to try out some new players. There has hardly been a break between these series, so in that respect, these youngsters should definitely take advantage of the opportunity,” Zaheer Khan said.

Team India have an overall dominant record against Zimbabwe in T20Is, losing only three out of 14 meetings since 2010.