One of Australia’s most influential owners, Nathan Tinkler, principal of Patinack Farms, ended Saturday with the happy dilemma of whether to pay the $150,000 Golden Slipper late entry fee for his exciting Shamardal filly Marquardt.
Drawn 17 on Rosehill’s notoriously difficult turning 1200m course in the G2 Parramatta Leagues Club Magic Night Stakes, Tinkler’s jockey Peter Robl was left with little option but to take the filly back from the start. Faced with a huge amount of ground to make up in the closing stages, Marquardt stormed home, failing only by a half-head to overhaul the winner Indian Ocean. After the race, Robl gave his rueful opinion: “The barrier beat her; nothing else. It was as simple as that”.
Marquardt is now fifteenth in order of entry for the Golden Slipper, leaving Tinkler with the dilemma of whether to back her up next weekend in the the world’s most competitive two-year-old race. “I’ll have a chat with Nathan tonight and we’ll make a decision after we see how she pulls up”, said Patinack Farm general manager Rick Connolly, in response to questions about whether the filly would be added to the Slipper field on Tuesday. Whatever decision her connections make, they certainly seem to have a lovely prospect on their hands, especially as the winning time for the Magic Night was 0.53 seconds quicker than that recorded by Tickets when winning the equivalent colts’ contest, the Darley Pago Pago Stakes, 40 minutes earlier.
Although conceived at Darley, Marquardt was bred in New Zealand by the Little Avondale Trust, and is the first foal of the Centaine mare Centrefold Angel. She is one of three first-crop winners for her sire in Australia, the others being the Listed-placed Premardal and Happy Hippy, who was Shamardal's first ever runner and won on debut.
