Early career Princess Zoe was unraced as a juvenile and began her racing career as a three-year-old with trainer Stefan Richter in the colours of Stall TSF. On her first racecourse appearance on 25 July 2018 she finished ninth in a minor race at
Hoppegarten and then ran third at the same track on 11 August. On 9 September at Munich she recorded her first success when she was ridden by Martin Seidl and came home five
lengths clear of her rivals in a minor event over 2000 metres on
soft ground. After finishing second at Munich in October she ended her first season by winning a minor
handicap race over 2200 metres at the same track on 1 November. Princess Zoe spent the 2019 season competing in minor handicap races at in Germany and failed to win in ten starts, mainly racing over distances of around 2000 metres. Her best efforts came when she finished second at Hoppegarten on 9 June, 3 October and 13 October. On her first run for her new connections, Princess Zoe finished second in a minor handicap over one mile and five furlongs at
Navan Racecourse on 23 June. On 18 July the mare was ridden by the amateur
Jody Townend in the Kildare Village Ladies Derby Handicap over one and a half miles at the
Curragh and started the 4/1 second favourite in a fifteen-runner field. She recorded her first victory in over 20 months as she took the lead two furlongs from the finish and won "easily" by five lengths. Nine days later at
Galway Racecourse Princess Zoe was stepped up in distance for a more valuable handicap over two miles and a furlong in which she was ridden by the amateur Finian Maguire and was assigned a weight of 150 pounds. Starting at odds of 7/1 she raced in mid-division before staying on strongly in the straight, taking the lead in the closing stages and winning by one and a quarter lengths. Five days later at the same track the mare contested a handicap over one and a half miles, and won "snugly" by half a length from Emperor of the Sun after gaining the advantage inside the final furlong. She was ridden by apprentice
Joey Sheridan who became her regular jockey, riding her in all but one of her future races on the flat. After the race Anthony Mullins said "It's a great relief to have that over, particularly to see her do it on heavy ground... This one has delivered every time – and it shows, though few and far between, that a small stable can compete at this level" before mentioning the
Cesarewitch,
Prix du Cadran and
Cheltenham Festival as future targets. Princess Zoe was then sent to France and stepped up to the highest class to contest the
Group 1 Prix du Cadran over 4000 metres at
Longchamp Racecourse on 3 October. She went off the 31/10 second favourite behind the 2019 winner
Call The Wind in a nine-runner field which included only one other Group race winner, namely Windstoss (
Deutsches Derby,
Preis von Europa). Racing on heavy ground, Princess Zoe settled in mid-division as the five-year-old gelding Alkuin set the pace, before starting to make sustained progress 1400 metres from the finish. She "reeled in" the leader in the straight, gained the advantage in the final strides and won by half a length. Sheridan was given a 12-day suspension for excessive use of the whip. Princess Zoe returned to Longchamp on 25 October for the
Prix Royal-Oak over 3100 metres when she was ridden by
Seamie Heffernan, as regular jockey Sheridan was serving a whip suspension. Starting the 21/10 second favourite she stayed on in the straight but was unable to reach the leaders and came home fourth behind
Subjectivist, Valia and
Holdthasigreen.
2021: six-year-old season Princess Zoe's seasonal reappearance came in a listed race at
Cork, the
Noblesse Stakes, in which she finished ninth of ten runners. This was followed by fourth place in the
Vintage Tipple Stakes at
Gowran Park. She then came second to Twilight Payment in the Group 3 St Leger Trial Stakes at the Curragh, before heading to France to defend her crown in the Prix du Cadran. On this occasion she came fifth behind favourite
Trueshan and second favourite
Stradivarius. It was to be Princess Zoe's only victory of the season. In the Ascot Gold Cup she came sixth of nine behind
Kyprios; in the
Goodwood Cup she came seventh of nine behind Kyrpios; in the
Irish St. Leger she came sixth of eleven behind Kyprios.
2022/23 National Hunt season Princess Zoe made her debut over jumps in January 2023 in a mares maiden hurdle at
Punchestown Racecourse. Ridden by
Danny Mullins and starting at 5/4 second favourite, she won in a dead-heat with outsider Ladybank. Her next outing was to the 2023
Cheltenham Festival where she ran in the Grade 2
Jack de Bromhead Mares' Novices' Hurdle. Starting at odds of 9/1, she rallied after a mistake at the last and finished in fifth place, four-and-a-quarter lengths behind the winner You Wear It Well. ==Pedigree==