By Tom Frary
Due to her seven-pound extra burden for winning the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye, Marsha was fully eight pounds worse off with Washington DC for a 3/4-of-a-length beating of that rival in the Chantilly sprint on Arc day but the result was ultimately the same in a show of sheer sprinting class on the Rowley Mile. Evidence of her prowess was first available in Scotland last June, when she dominated the Listed Land O'Burns Fillies' S. over this trip at Ayr and she was able to follow up in the Listed City Walls S. at York in early July. Only fifth but beaten less than a length in the G3 King George S. at Glorious Goodwood late that month, the bay was three-lengths second to Just Glamorous (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) in Chantilly's G3 Prix du Petit Couvert in September prior to returning to that track and trip for her finest hour in the Abbaye.
Clive Cox withdrew last year's winner Profitable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) which may have made this task a touch easier, but few would argue that Marsha would not have prevailed either way such was the manner of her performance. Held up early towards the rear by Luke Morris off the furious tempo set by Just Glamorous, the homebred was delivered stand's side as the leaders paid for their exertions and she rushed to the front approaching the furlong pole. Despite veering right late on, she was able to hold Ballydoyle's race-fit favourite and confirm her progression as the June 20 G1 King's Stand S. approaches. “I thought it would be very tough for her today and [trainer] Sir Mark [Prescott] told me that the last horse to win this with that penalty was Lochsong,” her rider commented. “The team at home have got her spot-on today and she feels like she has really filled out. When I pushed the button, she was electric and I got there too soon as she got tired up the hill.”
Sir Mark Prescott tends to excel with stayers, but he handled the five-furlong specialist Pivotal (GB) during his racing career before he became a leading sire and has handled several fast two-year-olds. “I thought she was very good when she won at Ayr and that was the beginning–she just improved and improved from there,” the master of Heath House Stables commented. “She beat them again on seven-pound worse terms here, so she's done very well and mathematically she's close to being a sprinting star, but she's got to keep going. Stayers are my stock-in-trade I suppose, but I like the sprinters when they come along and Pivotal wasn't too bad!”
Marsha's dam, who was a listed winner in France as a juvenile, hails from a family which is the stuff of dreams for any syndicate but particularly for the Elite Racing Club which had fairly modest pretensions at the outset. That all changed when Soviet Song (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) emerged just after the turn of the century and beat future star and Churchill's second dam Airwave (GB) (Air Express {Ire}) on debut at Kempton prior to collecting five group 1 successes including the Sussex. Her dam Kalinka is also the second dam of the G1 Prix Jean Romanet and G2 Blandford S. heroine Ribbons (GB) (Manduro {Ger}) and the G3 Pinnacle S. winner Miss Marjurie (Ire), also by Soviet Song's sire Marju. Marlinka also has a 2-year-old colt by Cape Cross (Ire) named Magistrate (Ire) and a yearling filly by Iffraaj (GB).
Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
LONGHOLES PALACE HOUSE S.-G3, £60,000, NEW, 5-6, 3yo/up, 5fT, :58.18, g/f.
1–MARSHA (IRE), 133, f, 4, by Acclamation (GB)
1st Dam: Marlinka (GB) (SW-Fr), by Marju (Ire)
2nd Dam: Baralinka (Ire), by Barathea (Ire)
3rd Dam: Kalinka (Ire), by Soviet Star
O/B-Elite Club (IRE); T-Sir Mark Prescott; J-Luke Morris. £34,026. Lifetime Record: Hwt. 3yo-Fr at 5-7f, G1SW-Fr & SP-Ire, 12-6-3-1, $407,212. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Washington DC (Ire), 129, c, 4, Zoffany (Ire)–How's She Cuttin' (Ire), by Shinko Forest (Ire). (75,000gns Wlg '13 TATFOA; €340,000 Ylg '14 GOFORB). O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-P Hyland & C McHale & J McHale (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £12,900.[bullet ad=”irt-shell”]3–Goldream (GB), 129, g, 8, Oasis Dream (GB)–Clizia (Ire), by Machiavellian. (48,000gns RNA 3yo '12 TA12). O-J Sargeant & Mrs J Morley; B-Tsega Breeding Ltd (GB); T-Robert Cowell. £6,456.
Margins: NK, 1, 1HF. Odds: 8.00, 3.30, 12.00.
Also Ran: Kachy (GB), Priceless (GB), Ornate (GB), Kimberella (GB), Alpha Delphini (GB), Cotai Glory (GB), Gracious John (Ire), Dancing Star (GB), Muthmir (Ire), Royal Birth (GB), Thesme (GB), Just Glamorous (Ire). Scratched: Profitable (Ire).
REPORT HERE. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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