Cambridge Stud Levin Classic: Mary Shan trainer says filly could contest Karaka Millions

Mary Shan (left, yellow, blue and white colours) running second to Molly Bloom at Pukekohe on Boxing Day. Photo / Kenton Wright

A high-class filly has $2 million worth of targets in a fortnight but trainer Andrew Forsman says the less lucrative of those races could end up being worth more.

The Cambridge trainer will send Mary Shan to the $500,000 Cambridge Stud Levin Classic at Trentham on Saturday but she could still contest the $1.5 million TAB Karaka Millions at Ellerslie on January 27.

While both races were options for plenty of other stars including 1000 Guineas winner Molly Bloom and stunning last-start victor Orchestral, their trainers have chosen to bypass Trentham to concentrate on the Millions.

But Forsman thinks Mary Shan can do both or may not even have to.

“This Saturday is a Group 1 and we really want to get one of those next to her name for her broodmare value,” he says.

“I think we can do both and we will make our final decision on Karaka Millions next week.

“It is all about Saturday at this stage and a few of those other leading three-year-olds not being there is obviously to our benefit.

“We will see how she goes on Saturday and then we have a week or so to decide about Ellerslie.

“You can do both with the right horse and I think she is turning into that type of filly so she might get a shot at both.”

Forsman also knows that if Mary Shan wins on Saturday his job with her is half done because it increases her value so much.

But she is also bred to get an Oaks trip so whether she goes to the $1.5million Karaka Millions three-year-old or not she still has plenty of options on both sides of the Tasman later in summer and into the autumn.

Mary Shan was a close second to Molly Bloom in the $225,000 Hallmark Stud Eight Carat Classic at Pukekohe on Boxing Day and Forsman putting her on the transporter to Trentham will please futures punters as she is the TAB’s $3.50 favourite for the Levin Classic.

Top sprinters Dragon Leap remains the $3.50 futures favourite for the $450,000 Berkett Telegraph on Saturday, which Railway winner Waitak will miss as will Babylon Berlin.

Forsman is also taking Rich Hill Mile runner-up Saint Bathans to the Anniversary Handicap this Saturday where he is likely to have to carry far more weight than when he was beaten on the line at Pukekohe.

The stable’s weight-for-age performer Aegon will head to Trentham next week for the group 1 Thorndon Mile, starting in which will qualify him for the $650,000 Entain Summer Bonus.

To be eligible for that horses must start in either the Thorndon or the Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic on Karaka Millions night then the points-based bonus series runs through the Herbie Dyke Classic at Te Rapa and the Bonecrusher NZ Stakes at Ellerslie on March 9.

The Trentham meeting this Saturday highlights a huge weekend for New Zealand thoroughbred racing as the next day Ellerslie will hold the first meeting on their new StrathAyr track.

That meeting will hold just six races with the listed $100,000 Gingernuts Salver for the Derby and Oaks-type three-year-olds stepping up to 2100m.

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.