Stephen Marsh’s magic flight to Hong Kong

Little Black Dress and Wiremu Pinn endured a bumpy winning ride. Credit: Race Images

Stephen Marsh goes into one of the biggest weeks of his training career on a high after two black type wins at Ellerslie on Saturday.

 Marsh headed to Hong Kong on Saturday to oversee El Vencedor’s preparation for the HK$28 million QEII Cup at Sha Tin next Sunday and he has plenty of reason to smile on the plane after winning both the black type two and three-year-old races at Ellerslie with Little Black Dress and Kiwi Skyhawk.

Flashy filly Little Black Dress maintained her unbeaten record with a dramatic victory in Listed Skycity Star Way Stakes while Kiwi Skyhawk capped a long season with a last-stride win in the $120,000 Trelawney Championship Stakes.

While Kiwi Skyhawk’s class was already established after a strong summer of black type Little Black Dress was having just her second start and looks to have a huge future.

The only thing that seemed certain with 200m left to run in the two-year-old feature was that it looked like a Stephen Marsh-trained quinella with pacemaker Lady Iris clinging resolutely to a narrow lead from Little Black Dress as the pair went stride for stride at that point.

Lady Iris suddenly made a beeline to her left and hampered both her stablemate and the late closing Too Sweet, before being straightened by rider George Rooke, however Little Black Dress still had momentum in her favour as she stretched out nicely to snatch victory by a head from Lady Iris with a further long neck back to Too Sweet.

“We have been in this position before with stablemates challenging each other late in the piece at Ellerslie, but when you have runners in nice races it is lovely when they are at the sharp end of it,” said stable rep Johnson.

“It was nice to quinella the race and the winner is a lovely, well-bred filly by Snitzel that Albert (Bosma) and Matt (Allnut) did a great job sourcing as they didn’t have to pay overs for her and they now have a very valuable stakes winner, who is two from two, on their hands.

“The second filly has also gained valuable black type and although there is not a lot to her she just fought and fought.

“There is not a lot more for them so they can go out in the paddock before we get them back in to attack the spring.”

The Arrowfield Stud-bred Little Black Dress is by Snitzel out of the Street Cry mare Star Fashion, who won the Gr.3 Ladies’ Day Vase (1600m) and placed in the Gr.1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) and Gr.2 Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m). Star Fashion is now the dam of four winners from five foals to race.

Arrowfield offered Little Black Dress at the 2024 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where Go Racing secured her for A$240,000.

Jockey Wiremu Pinn was also impressed by how his filly picked herself up and finished off so resolutely to the line.

“She is a very good horse with class written all over her,” he said.

“She is beautifully bred and won her first start in good fashion and has put away a smart field here today.

“Even with the bump she picked herself up, pinned her ears back and had a real go.

“I think she is a Group One horse as what she is doing now is on ability only, whereas in six months she will be even better.”

– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk