Group One winner Velocious (Written Tycoon) is in Queensland ahead of a tilt at the Listed Queensland Day Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm this Saturday.
The Stephen Marsh-trained filly was New Zealand’s champion two-year-old last season, when she won four of her six starts including the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m).
Her three-year-old season has been an up-and-down journey for her connections.
There was a wind operation in the spring, then a smart first-up win at Te Aroha in March, then a luckless run in the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and a disappointing fifth after a costly slow start at Ellerslie.
But a strong win against older horses at Te Rapa convinced Marsh to head to Queensland in search of black-type and Saturday’s assignment for three-year-olds at set weights looks an ideal option.
“She gets into a set weights race with no penalties, so she gets in very well with 55kgs,” Marsh told Radio TAB.
“To get a little bit of Australian black-type for such a well-bred filly would be outstanding.
“Ethan Brown will take the reins. He’s a very good rider and hopefully we get a good barrier draw tomorrow.”
Velocious was bred by Inglewood Stud and offered in their draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2023, where prominent syndicators Go Racing bought her for $190,000. She has now had 12 starts for six wins, a placing and $980,550 in earnings.
“She was $190,000 as a yearling, which now looks extremely cheap. She was our champion two-year-old. She won the Karaka Million, the Sistema, she won basically everything we put in front of her,” Marsh said.
“She had a tie-back surgery and came out and beat the open (grade) horses first-up three-starts ago and then went off the boil a little bit. She was getting pretty slow out of the gates and getting into bad positions.
“We put the barrier blanket on last start from a good barrier and it isn’t easy for the three-year-olds to beat the older horses but she managed to, and she beat them well.
“She will be going into Saturday as a good forward horse and I think the better the track, the better for her.”
Meanwhile classy galloper El Vencedor (NZ) (Shocking) is back in New Zealand after a venture to Hong Kong where he was unplaced in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m) in late April.
“He had a slight little hiccup where he missed a little bit of work and in the running he was extremely keen and pulled himself into the ground,” Marsh said.
“But he pulled up well, we had a great experience, they really looked after us like Kings in Hong Kong and we’d go back in a heartbeat.
“The horse is home. He did his quarantine in Hong Kong and quarantine in Melbourne and now he is back in beautiful New Zealand pastures enjoying a little holiday.
“He usually spells after the Bonecrusher Stakes and has probably too long in the paddock and gets too fat, so a trip to Hong Kong in between times and then a nice break, he will be ready to go for those Summer races and basically go through the path he went this year.”
While Marsh enjoyed his Hong Kong raid, the top Kiwi trainer is bullish about training in his homeland and has no plans of relocating.
“I’ve always loved training in New Zealand but the prize money was very questionable for a while,” he said.
“The prize money is very good now. Racing is good and I’m more than happy to stay here. I’m a loyal Kiwi. “I know Hong Kong might be where you make the real money, but I love training here and I love what it’s all about.”