Zozos

Zozos made his career debut on Jan. 23, 2022, in a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Fair Grounds. He went off as the 2.10-1 second choice, in a field where six of eight horses were making their first start. Despite not changing leads in the stretch, he got up to win by a half-length with a determined stretch rally. 

Zozos put himself on the map as a possible contender for the 2022 Kentucky Derby with an impressive win at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 11. He won a first-level allowance optional claiming race by 10 1/4 lengths, in his first start around two turns. Off that performance, Zozos made his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on Mar. 26. He went to the early lead and set the pace. Although he could not hold off favored Epicenter, he held on for second, 2 1/2 lengths behind the winner. For his effort, he earned 40 qualifying points for the Derby and ensured himself a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. Zozos subsequently finished 10th in the 2022 run or the roses.

Zozos set out to reinvent himself following a seven-month layoff after the Kentucky Derby. He won his return race at the Fair Grounds in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming race on Dec. 17, and later put together a three-race winning streak as a 4-year-old between March and July, 2023. The victories were at three different tracks – Fair Grounds, Churchill Downs, and Ellis Park – and included a win in the $170,000 Knicks Go Stakes on May 6 and a win in the $275,000 Hanshin Stakes on July 2.

Zozos won his first career graded stakes race when he went wire-to-wire in the Grade 3 $400,000 Ack Ack Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 30. The Ack Ack Stakes was a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series win and you're in race, and that win at one mile as the 3-5 favorite on the tote board secured Zozos a spot in the starting gate.

Zozos is trained by Brad Cox. He was bred in Kentucky by the sire Munnings out of the mare Papa's Forest by Forestry.