Money man Marsh taking huge momentum into Thorndon Mile

Queen Zou appeals as the each way value at Trentham today if the track doesn't get too wet. Photo / Kenton Wright

Stephen Marsh’s season is running so hot maybe the only thing that can stop it is a downpour hitting the capital.

And if that forecast rain doesn’t come then punters should book another ticket on the Marsh train at Trentham today.

The Cambridge trainer’s stable has won more money than any other in the country so far this season, rarefied air sitting above perennial stakes and overall premiership winners Te Akau (Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson) on the stakes won list.

With the season about to hit its most lucrative six-week period it will take a huge effort for Marsh to stay ahead on the Te Akau machine on the stakes premiership.

But he does have unbeaten filly Well Written in his stable and she is the favourite for our two richest races, the $1.5 million Karaka Millions 3-year-old next Saturday and the $4m NZB Kiwi on March 7.

“We are having a wonderful season and that comes down to a lot of hard work from a lot of people and great support from our owners,” says Marsh.

“So we are hoping we get fair luck over the next few months and get the opportunity to show how good some of these horses are.”

One of the Marsh army who is at the peak of her powers is Queen Zou, who finds herself in an ideal race, the $500,000 Harcourts Thorndon Mile at Trentham today.

But as compelling as Marsh’s form has been not even he can control the weather and that is his concern heading to the Group 2 race.

“The weather forecast doesn’t look that great and the more rain that comes the less confident I will be,” he told the Herald.

“There is no doubt she can win and is clearly one the horses to beat but I don’t want a heavy track.

“She will still run on a soft track but if it gets heavy then things might change.”

Queen Zou would be tighter in the market than her $5.50 TAB quote if she had drawn better but Marsh says being in the outside gate in the 12-horse field won’t be an excuse.

“It is a good 1600m start at Trentham and they all tend to get their chance so I am a lot less worried about the draw than I am the prospect of a wet track.”

The obvious danger, favourite and class horse of the field is Legarto, who in her form of two years ago would have probably have carried her 58kg topweight today with ease.

While she is still one of our best horses and can win today punters should be careful with her as co-trainer Ken Kelso is starting her today partially to keep her ticking over before races like the Herbie Dyke and the Bonecrusher NZ Stakes.

Make no mistake, Legarto is there to win today but she has been racing more like a 2000m mare than the booming-finishing filly of a few seasons ago.

Still, a hard run mile at Trentham could feel like 1800-2000m so from a good draw Legarto is the one Queen Zou has to claw her way past.

If the rain comes hard and heavy then the Thorndon gets very tricky and a mare like Hi Yo Sass Bomb would come right into play.

Earlier in the programme Marsh says In Your Dreams (R7, No 13) has a sneaky hope in the $200,000 NZB Desert Gold Stakes, the race of the day that may be most affected by track conditions.

“And I think we have a really good chance in the open 1100m with Miss Fladgate (R2, No 5) who has been racing well at Ellerslie.”

One Bold Cat looks the best each way bet in the Trentham Stakes, the $150,000 staying contest which doubles as the main lead-up to the Wellington Cup on January 31.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.