Marsh bidding for 1,000 Guineas glory with ‘under the radar’ filly

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Cambridge-based trainer sends talented pair Love Poem and Sexy And I Moet to Riccarton feature

Stephen Marsh is confident he has a pair of live chances heading into the New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) as he bids to tick another Classic off his list of achievements at Riccarton on Saturday.

Promising fillies Love Poem (Snitzel) and Sexy And I Moet (Pierro) will take to the track at 2:58pm (NZT) bidding to become their trainer’s first winner of the 1,000 Guineas as they renew rivalries with familiar opposition.

The pair ran third and fourth respectively in the Soliloquy Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) behind the winner Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) and runner-up Kitty Flash (Ace High), both of whom will also face the starter in Saturday’s Classic.

Since that Group 2 contest at Ellerslie on October 26, Love Poem is the only horse to have appeared again, with the daughter of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) running a huge race to be second in last weekend’s New Zealand 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), finishing 2.8 lengths off the country’s top three-year-old colt Savaglee (Savabeel).

“She’s bounced out of it so well and we were only ever going to back her up if we felt she was 110 per cent,” Marsh told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“Basically, she’s done so well in the week I was just going to give her quiet work for the rest of it. She’s eating good, looks better for the run and I’ve added side-winkers to her and gave her a little 600-metre breeze-up [on Wednesday] with those on and that went great.”

Marsh has taken a lot of hope from Love Poem’s run in the 2,000 Guineas, not only because she was behind what he feels is a colt of the highest quality, but also the fact she has now proven she stays the 1600-metre distance.

“The favourite [Savaglee] went there with the same sort of credentials as the likes of Crocetti, but he never seemed to have the tag of a top three-year-old,” Marsh said.

“I don’t know how much strength in depth there was in behind us two, but we were beaten by a top one so we’re happy with that form.

“She’s one of those horses that has been stakes-placed on multiple occasions, and she keeps flying under the radar. She’s had a run down south and she’s got through that good, now she’s back against her own sex and she is a high-quality filly. 

“She’s been down there for a little while now, while some of the others are just arriving after long trips, so yeah she is coming in under the radar and ticks a lot of boxes.”

Having pushed forward in the 2,000 Guineas to keep tabs on the eventual winner Savaglee, who was sent off the odds-on favourite, Marsh revealed Love Poem would likely be ridden slightly further back this weekend with the filly drawing barrier five under regular rider Matthew Cartwright.

“I think the draw is great,” Marsh added. “We sort of went forward the other day knowing the favourite would be going forward, so we wanted to keep it in our sights. 

“We had a bit of a look at the favourite with a furlong to go, but he’s just a very good colt and has proven to be the benchmark of the three-year-olds this season. 

“This week we’ll ride her just one tier off them, hopefully sort of third or fourth rather than second, especially with the side-winkers on as we don’t want her to overrace.”

Marsh, who landed the 2,000 Guineas with Ugo Foscolo (Zacinto) in 2016 and the New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) with Crown Prosecutor (Medaglia D’Oro) in 2019, admitted the remaining two Classic races are ones he is desperate to tick off as soon as possible.

“The 1,000 Guineas and New Zealand Oaks are two races I’d just love to be able to tick off,” he said. “[Love Poem’s owner] Lib Petagna is a great supporter of us, so yeah that would be brilliant if we could.”

Following this weekend’s contest, Marsh revealed Love Poem would be heading for a well-earned break with the filly not eligible for the Karaka Millions 3YO (RL, 1600m) or The Kiwi (1200m) having been purchased at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

“She was bought in Australia so she’s not a Karaka Millions horse, nor is she eligible for The Kiwi, so that’s a lot of the reason why we did plan to back her up as we knew she wouldn’t be racing in the next couple of months,” the trainer said. “She’ll have a good break after this and a well deserved one.”

The man who purchased Love Poem is well-respected bloodstock agent Bruce Perry, and he is also looking forward to the prospect of having a potential 1,000 Guineas-winning filly not only on his resume of buys, but also for the filly’s owner Lib Petagna.

“We’re very happy with her, it’s a big ask this weekend against some good fillies. You’re always hopeful of winning but never expectant of course,” Perry told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“You’re probably hoping that Alabama Lass finds the mile a bit tougher than she has her other starts. Captured By Love is a bit of an unknown quantity but she’s a very good filly, but the mile won’t worry our filly so it’ll be interesting how she measures up.

“It’d be massive [to win the 1,000 Guineas], but I suppose more importantly it keeps the clients happy and I live for another day! The most important thing is to get success and give your clients confidence, that is number one on the list.”

Love Poem was bred by Arrowfield and Jonathan Munz’s GSA Bloodstock and Perry paid $280,000 for the filly out of the John Messara’s 2023 Inglis Easter draft, but the bloodstock agent revealed he had been expecting, and willing, to part with more than that final sum.

A half-sister to Love Poem had been sold at the same sale in 2022 for $750,000 to Ciaron Maher and, as it turned out, that filly would go on to be named Estriella. That filly would break her maiden a couple of months after Love Poem’s sale and she would subsequently go on to win at stakes level on three occasions, with her most recent victory coming in the Millennium Sprint (Gr 2, 1000m) at Caulfield on October 19. 

“I know the pedigree very well and it’s a great family, she’s by a great sire, Estriella hadn’t come onto the scene at the time but she had been an expensive buy as a yearling,” Perry said.

“Love Poem was a very good-looking filly at the sales and a very kind filly, I think Arrowfield thought she’d get to the sort of $400,000 odd mark, and so did others, but we paid $280,000 for her so I thought she was particularly good value and so it has turned out so far. A bit of the right place at the right time really.”

Perry revealed that Love Poem appealed as a future breeding prospect even before she had achieved anything on the racetrack, a factor that also played a large part in her eventual purchase.

“Even before she took to the track she is obviously by a good sire and, coming from such a strong family, she had residual value for Lib to go into his breeding band at some point,” he said.

“We were prepared to go stronger on her at the sales but it worked out very well, so hopefully now we can get that elusive stakes win with her. I’m sure it’ll come at some point, if not this weekend.”

Perry has long been a purchaser and advisor to Lib Petagna under his JML Bloodstock brand, and admitted having a Classic-winning filly by top Australian sire Snitzel would be a huge asset to Petagna going forward.

“He’s already got a wonderful broodmare band with a number of Group 1 winners, but to have a Snitzel Group 1-winning filly given our main market is Australia would be very important for us commercially,” Perry added.

“Lib also still owns a chunk of Alabama Express so at the end of the day if she [Alabama Lass] happens to nail us on the line then so be it!”

With the Magic Millions sales now on the horizon, Perry is excited to get back into the yearling sales circuit in the hope of unearthing more hidden gems like Love Poem.

“I love the yearling sales, trying to find those fillies and colts is a challenge but there’s always value there,” he said.

“It is a bit of a lottery at times, but you can put the odds in your favour so it’s an exciting time.

“We’ve had a huge amount of success buying those sort of second-tier-type fillies that haven’t been overly expensive but at the same time ones we had rated as being up there at the top of the lots on offer, so that’s what you’re trying to achieve really.”

All of the fillies entered in Saturday’s Classic are attempting to propel their residual value to a height that very few fillies and mares achieve and stablemate Sexy And I Moet, who has definitely secured top honours in the naming department, will also be bidding for Classic glory.

Having run fourth in last month’s Soliloquy Stakes, just behind Love Poem, Marsh feels the step up to 1600 metres on Saturday, coupled with the addition of side-winkers, can bring about an even better performance.

“She wasn’t far behind Love Poem in the Soliloquy and I think now hitting the mile trip, plus the addition of side-winkers, she has a bit more to offer,” Marsh said.

“She’s a good filly and has done nothing wrong, drawn to get a beautiful run in barrier two and the way she’s got down there I’d say she is a true contender as well.”

The betting market has, quite surprisingly, both Love Poem and Sexy And I Moet as double-figure prices behind Alabama Lass and the Te Akau Racing-owned Captured By Love (Written Tycoon), who dominate proceedings at the top, and Marsh suspects this weekend’s race may be a little more open than bookmakers have it chalked up.

“She ran to the line well in the Soliloquy and it wasn’t as if Alabama Lass was getting away from the ones in behind,” the trainer added.

“I think the 1,000 Guineas has a huge amount of depth this year and I think it’s a bit more of an intriguing race than the betting has it.”

Like Love Poem, Sexy And I Moet is a graduate of last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale and Marsh was heavily involved in the purchasing of the filly, teaming up with Dylan Johnson Bloodstock to secure the youngster for $120,000 out of Tyreel Stud draft.

“We had bought Moet Down the year before who is now a winner and stakes-placed and we’ve always loved Pierro,” Marsh revealed. “So last year when we went over we certainly had our eyes on getting another Pierro. 

“This filly was being sold out of a small draft and the owner had no reserve on, we couldn’t believe we got her for so cheap on the day and just loved her.”

Sexy And I Moet is owned by a syndicate of women named the Heels And Hooves Syndicate, and Marsh revealed that plenty of those owners are making the trip down south to cheer on their filly.

“She’s owned by a massive syndicate of ladies and a hell of a lot of them are going down there so we’ll be ducking for cover if she looks like winning!” he said.

“It’d be great for them [if she could win]. Usually it’s the men that go to the races and the wives sort of tag along, now it’s the woman going to the races and their husbands are tagging along! It makes a good change to be honest with you – it’s great to see.”

The trainer will also saddle-up Nest Egg (Reliable Man) at Riccarton on Saturday, as the six-year-old gelding tackles the New Zealand Cup (Gr 3, 3200m) and he will attempt to go one better than his runner-up finish in last year’s renewal.

The son of Reliable Man (Dalakhani) landed the Metropolitan Trophy (Listed, 2600m) prior to his run in the 2023 NZ Cup, but could only manage a disappointing eighth this year, causing him to drift in the betting markets for his return to this weekend’s staying feature.

“In himself, everything is perfect and I think he’s going better than he was last year to be honest,” Marsh revealed.

“His last start he was a bit average in the Metropolitan Trophy. He got tight on the fence, got a little chopped out down the back straight and I don’t think he’s a horse that likes being cluttered up. 

“His bloods are good and he worked well this [Wednesday] morning, so I think he can bounce back to form but that last run was a bit of a head scratcher.”

Nest Egg went down by just 0.3 lengths in last year’s race to subsequent Auckland Cup (Gr 2, 3200m) winner Mahrajaan (Kitten’s Joy), and Marsh is not expecting to face another horse of that calibre this year.

“He went into his last start as the $4 favourite for the Cup and now he’s out to $11, I thought he’d be starting shorter but his last start has probably put people off him a bit,” the trainer said.

“There’s certainly no horse like last year’s winner in the race this time, hopefully he can slot in from barrier 14 and then have one crack down the home straight.”