Horse racing: Stephen Marsh looking to continue spring 3-year-old domination

Magic Carpet has already won a major 3-year-old race, the Hawke's Bay Guineas. Photo / Kenton Wright

Stephen Marsh may have three winning chances in the $150,000 Sarten Memorial at Tauranga tomorrow but none of them are the 3-year-old in his stable everybody is talking about.

The Cambridge trainer takes Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner Magic Carpet, Swiss Prince and the filly To Cap It All to the Sarten, which had to be transferred from last Monday’s partially abandoned meeting at Te Rapa.

All three are still potentially on a path to the Guineas races at Riccarton if they perform as Marsh hopes tomorrow, with To Cap It All a chance to start against the boys in the 2000 Guineas on November 15 as the 1000 Guineas may come up too soon, being next Saturday.

But they aren’t the Guineas contenders making waves for Marsh just yet, as he has been bemused to find his unbeaten filly Well Written now at the head of the TAB markets for both the New Zealand 1000 Guineas and the 2000 Guineas.

“I have no idea where that has come from,” Marsh said.

“All I can say is she is heading to the 1000 Guineas next week [November 8] and she won’t be backing up in the 2000 Guineas.”

Well Written has been the focus of plenty of attention since she thrashed her Soliloquy Stakes opponents by six-and-three-quarter lengths at Ellerslie on October 18 and if recent trends around New Zealand’s best 3-year-old fillies continue, it wouldn’t surprise to see offers coming in for her that are hard to ignore.

With Well Written being not only the favourite for the 1000 Guineas but also the $1.5 million Karaka Million Three-Year-Old and the $4 million NZB Kiwi – both crucially at Ellerslie where she has been so dynamic – the filly looks like one of the most valuable racehorses in the country.

But before he goes Guineas hunting with Well Written next week, Marsh has a Sarten to try to win tomorrow, with Magic Carpet surprisingly long in the market at $9 for a last-start Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner.

Part of that may be punters, or bookies, slightly discounting that win over Quondo because it was on a heavy Te Rapa track, whereas Tauranga promises to provide better footing tomorrow.

“I don’t think a better track will bother him or the other two,” Marsh said.

“Both Magic Carpet and Swiss Prince are good, versatile gallopers who we think are good enough to take to Riccarton in two weeks, so they can both go close.

“Obviously it is a nice field but they both have good each-way chances, while To Cap It All will appreciate the better surface, but she has a wide draw.”

Marsh’s stable is running hot and he can see tomorrow being another positive day, with Glamour Tycoon (Race 7, No 4) rated one of his better hopes.

“She is racing well and while she has a bit of weight in the open 1300m, she gets barrier one.”

Marsh has a really quick filly in Lubeck in a strong 3-year-old race earlier in the card so is spoiled for riches in the 3-year-old ranks, while he rates Queen Zou (R11, No 8) an each-way chance in the last race on the extended programme.

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.