Patinack Farm principal Nathan Tinkler ended Saturday with the happy dilemma of whether to pay the $150,000 Golden Slipper late entry fee for his exciting Shamardal filly Marquardt.
Drawn 17 in the G2 Parramatta Leagues Club Magic Night Stakes over 1200m at Rosehill, Tinkler’s jockey Peter Robl was left with little option but to take the filly back from the start. Faced with a huge amount of ground to make up in the closing stages, Marquardt stormed home, failing only by a half-head to overhaul the winner Indian Ocean. After the race, Robl gave his rueful opinion: “The barrier beat her; nothing else. It was as simple as that”.
Marquardt is now fifteenth in order of entry for the Golden Slipper, leaving Tinkler with the dilemma of whether to back her up next weekend in the the world’s most competitive two-year-old race. “I’ll have a chat with Nathan tonight and we’ll make a decision after we see how she pulls up”, said Patinack Farm general manager Rick Connolly, in response to questions about whether the filly would be added to the Slipper field on Tuesday. Whatever decision her connections make, they certainly seem to have a lovely prospect on their hands, especially as the winning time for the Magic Night was 0.53 seconds quicker than that recorded by Tickets when winning the equivalent colts’ contest, the Darley Pago Pago Stakes, 40 minutes earlier.
Although conceived at Darley, Marquardt was bred in New Zealand by the Little Avondale Trust, and is the first foal of the Centaine mare Centrefold Angel.
Later on the card, Commands' ultra-consistent four-year-old son Marching posted yet another good effort when second to the Doncaster Handicap-bound Solo Flyer in the G2 Ajax Stakes. Marching has now made the frame in ten Group races, his best performances coming when victorious in last year’s G2 AAMI Vase at Moonee Valley, and when posting G1 placings in the Caulfield Guineas (third behind Weekend Hussler), Victoria Derby (third behind Kibbutz, whom he had previously beaten at Moonee Valley) and Australian Guineas (second behind Light Fantastic, beaten a neck). A Woodlands Stud-bred son of the Grand Lodge mare Step and thus a half-brother to G1 Stradbroke Handicap winner Crawl, Marching is a credit to his connections.
Across the Tasman, Canny Lad's reputation as an influential broodmare sire – the 1990 Golden Slipper winner is, of course, the damsire of Redoute’s Choice – received yet another boost when St Fevre, a son of the Canny Lad mare Miss Candy, finished second, beaten a short-head, in one of New Zealand’s top juvenile races, the G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes. A member of Canny Lad’s first crop, Miss Candy was the winner of four races in her younger days.
In a week's time, the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale is set to start in Sydney. Shamardal has four youngsters in the sale while Commands has 18 waiting to go under the hammer.
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