All systems go for exciting Marshman in the Gimcrack at York Ebor Festival
Marshman is poised for a quick reappearance in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack Stakes in York after his impressive win in Thirsk on Friday night, with an ambitious plan being hatched to make the talented youngster a two-year champion.
The Karl Burke-trained stallion caught the eye when he went over the green on his debut to record a comfortable win at Ayr, a feat that set him up for a tilt in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood.
However, an issue on the morning of the race saw him dropped from six-mile Group Two and saddled closer to home for his second start to take an impressive eight-and-a-half length victory at the Yorkshire circuit.
“We had him at the Richmond at Goodwood and the hope was that he would go there and do a big race,” said Nick Bradley, managing director of Nick Bradley Racing.
“He had a small infection in one leg on the morning of the race so he couldn’t run there which could prove beneficial in the long run.
“We went to Thirsk thinking it was his last work before gimcrack. We expected him to win but we didn’t expect that. But his work at home has always been outstanding and he’s right up there with Karl’s best two-year-olds.
“He’s worked with all the good ones but Karl can’t really tell which is best as all the work is done on the bridle, which often happens when you buy from the Breeze-Ups as they’re trained on it, fast to run across two stadiums. It’s just a matter of keeping them under wraps once you’ve bought them.
“You tend to slow them down rather than speed them up, so we didn’t really know how well he did at Thirsk, although he’s worked as well as any of Karl’s two-year-olds this year.”
The son of Harry Angel will now be geared towards group racing for the remainder of the season, starting in York on Friday, with Bradley aiming to turn the £38,000 purchase into one of this season’s best youngsters.
“We go 100 percent to Gimcrack. The morning after Thirsk he was fine, he had a bit of a sore shin but that has improved within a day and he’s going to York with a great opportunity,” Bradley continued.
“I’ve told the owners I want to make him a champion by the time he’s a two-year-old, so we’ve got to go to Gimcrack and Middle Park and races like that to make that happen.”
Bradley is most associated with acquiring fillies wisely and maximizing their potential at the track, so buying such a precocious stallion can easily go against the grain.
But Bradley explains how the early-season snap sales allow him to focus his eyes on a larger pool of potential customers, rather than the busy yearling sales where he focuses his efforts on scouting the next Dandalla or Mystery Angel.
He said: “I’m a bit of a one-man group so at the yearling sales I really only have time to see the fillies.
“But if the breakers come and sell 100 horses one day and another 100 a week later, I have enough time to distribute myself between the stallions and mares.
“I thought Marshman blew really well and I had all the right horses on my list, it was just a case of the ones I could buy. I knew he was a good horse at the auctions, he bled well and was highly recommended.”
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