Classy mare Mary Shan (NZ) (Almanzor) has black-type targets on her agenda after bouncing back to winning form in Saturday’s Happy Hire Cup (1400m) at Tauranga.
The daughter of Almanzor was close up in elite three-year-old competition two seasons ago, finishing second in the Gr.2 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) and Eight Carat Classic (1600m), fourth in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) and fifth in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m). She added another two black-type placings to her record in last season’s Listed Aotearoa Classic (1600m) and Matamata Cup (1600m).
Mary Shan kicked off her current season with a bold first-up victory at Wanganui on August 30, hinting that her five-year-old season might be her best yet. But she was brought undone by a testing Hawera track in her second-up assignment in the Gr.3 Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), beating only one runner home as the $3 favourite.
Trainer Andrew Forsman was hoping to get Mary Shan back on track in Saturday’s $50,000 open handicap on a Soft5 surface at Tauranga, and he got exactly what he was looking for.
Ridden by Wiremu Pinn, Mary Shan settled into a good rhythm in fourth along the rail. When the front-running Leroy Brown rolled off the fence at the top of the home straight, Pinn and Mary Shan needed no second invitation. They dashed through and quickly took command, kicking away to win by a length and a half from Gospodin, You Say D’Orsay and Leroy Brown.
“It was really good to see her bounce back yesterday,” Forsman said. “She obviously got tripped up by a very heavy track at Hawera the start before. She won very nicely at Tauranga to get the campaign back on track, and hopefully it’ll give her a bit of a confidence boost.
“I don’t really have any firm plans in mind for her from here, but it’s all going to be about trying to add black-type to her pedigree page. There’s a few nice options coming up.
“She could potentially back up for the Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr.2, 1400m) at Pukekohe next Saturday, although there’s the prospect of some rain around, so we won’t rush into a decision on that.
“We could wait until the following Saturday, where there’s a nice set weights and penalties race at Ellerslie (Gr.3 Great Northern Challenge Stakes, 1600m). And then we head into December, where races like the Cal Isuzu (Gr.2, 1600m) might really suit her. So there’s a few races that we can choose from, and we’ll just take things as they come and pick out what suits her best.”
Forsman Racing paid $180,000 to buy Mary Shan from Prima Park’s draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2022.
She has now won four of her 21 starts and placed in another six, earning $413,290 for owners Jackie Rogers and Gerald Shand.