Tom Marquand extends stay in chase for more Group 1 glory in The Championships
With English racing shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, and a swag of promising rides available in Sydney, one of the world’s best jockeys has made the tough call to delay his trip home.
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English riding sensation Tom Marquand is extending his stay in Sydney before returning to an uncertain future in England, where racing has been shut down indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s kind of a tricky decision to go back,’’ Marquand said. “But if they do get English racing off the ground at the start of May, I will be back in time to quarantine for two weeks before I start riding.
“Even if they don’t start racing, I will be home to ride out again for the yards that have been loyal to me and be ready for when we do get racing going again.’’
Marquand will now be around for the final Group 1 meeting of the season at Royal Randwick on Saturday week but before then will ride favourites Addeybb in the $2 million Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) and Young Rascal in the $1 million Schweppes Sydney Cup (3200m) this weekend.
“I was due to go home on Saturday night but I will have to sort that out now,’’ said Marquand, who is in the process of changing his return flights to London.
“I’ve got rides on Holyfield (Champagne Stakes) and Fierce Impact (All Aged Stakes) on the 18th, so hopefully they will be worth staying for.’’
Marquand has been in Sydney for nearly a month and has been in outstanding form.
He claimed the first Group 1 win of his career on English raider Addeybb in the Ranvet Stakes on Golden Slipper Day and won on Young Rascal, Addeybb’s stablemate, in the Group 3 Manion Cup on the same day.
The talented young jockey described the Rosehill wins of Addeybb and Young Rascal as a bonus because their trainer William Haggas has been preparing them to peak for their big-race assignments on day two of The Championships at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Marquand rides a lot for the Haggas stable in England and said the trainer was a master at preparing his horses for “target races”.
“He has a phenomenal record, he is a strike-rate trainer and pins horses to races and rarely misses, which is what he is doing with these two,” Marquand said.
“We were hoping Addeybb and Young Rascal would run big races at Rosehill but we didn’t go there thinking they were winners all over.
“So to have gotten them off the mark to win both races and still with improvement to come was a massive bonus.
“It’s another big day (Saturday) and hopefully they can take another step forward, improve again on the weekend and put up as good a performance as they possibly can.’’
Addeybb held off Verry Elleegant to win a stirring struggle in the Ranvet Stakes. The runner-up then franked the form when she romped away with the Tancred Stakes at her next start.
They clash again in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, for which Addeybb is the $4 equal favourite alongside Japan’s Danon Premium. Verry Elleegant is pressing at $6.
“To see Verry Elleegant come out and demolish the field she was up against the other day was good to see,’’ Marquand said.
“It shows us where we are. It doesn’t turn anything into stone but it was nice to have that little bit of a ‘confidence-giver’ going into the weekend.’’
Young Rascal has never raced beyond 2400m but Marquand is adamant the English stayer won’t have an issue going to 3200m for the Sydney Cup.
“If he is staying a mile and a half in England, he will be staying the trip on Saturday without any problem at all,’’ Marquand said.
“I struggle to see a world in which he won’t.’’
LEADING stallions So You Think, Zoustar and I Am Invincible were represented by yearlings that sold for at least $1 million on the opening day of the Inglis Easter Sale yesterday.
The most important yearling auction in the southern hemisphere was held online due to the coronavirus outbreak but there was still spirited bidding with the So You Think and Zoustar yearlings stealing the show.
So You Think, who sired last Saturday’s ATC Australian Derby winner Quick Thinker, was the sire of a grey colt out of Pinnochio purchased by Hong Kong owner Bon Ho for $1.1 million.
The colt is the first yearling by former superstar galloper and Coolmore Stud-based sire So You Think to sell for a seven-figure sum.
The interest in this colt is understandable as Pinnochio, herself a sister to former champion miler Racing To Win, and the dam of top sprinter Classique Legend and Hong Kong’s brilliant speedster Aethero.
Ho also purchased the full sister to former champion mare More Joyous for $500,000.
Widden Stud’s Zoustar sired a striking colt out of Solar Charged that Hawkes Racing purchased for $1.1 million.
The colt is a full brother to Sunlight, winner of 11 races including three at Group 1 level and more than $6.5 million prizemoney. Solar Charged has also produced Group 3 winner Sisstar and stakes placegetter Sheikha.
Solar Charged does not have a weanling this season but is now back in foal to Zoustar.
A yearling filly by super sire I Am Invincible out of dual Group 1 winner Srikandi was knocked down for $1 million.
There were 257 lots catalogued on the opening day of Inglis Easter Sale but 66 yearlings were passed in and another 85 withdrawn from the sale.
However, 106 yearlings were sold for a total of $32,537,500 at an average of $310,558.
“It’s been one of the most extraordinary days on the job for me as Managing Director, to oversee Day 1 of an Easter Sale with no horses and no people, it’s certainly something out of the box,’’ Inglis Managing Director Mark Webster said.
“Our website traffic figures have been quite phenomenal – we have had people watching our Sale Day Live coverage from 99 different countries on six continents around the world and buyers coming from all across the globe as well, as well as almost 150,000 visitors to the website today alone.
“That side of things has been very satisfying because our vendors put in a tremendous amount of work under arguably some of the most challenging conditions of their lives and to be able to even conduct a sale under the circumstances for them has been a great team effort.’’
Another 257 yearlings will be sold on Day Two of the Inglis Sales from 10am Wednesday.