Tardelli caps Ellerslie treble for Marsh
Spring racing moved up a notch at Ellerslie on Saturday for Stephen Marsh, who came away from the meeting with three wins and plenty to be excited about through the months ahead.
Marsh collected back-to-back successes early in the afternoon with Guineas contenders Well Written (Written Tycoon) and Churmatt (Churchill), then saddled Little Black Dress (Snitzel) for a third placing in the Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m).
But the Cambidge trainer may have saved the best for last, unleashing the exciting four-year-old entire Tardelli (I Am Invincible) for a scintillating first-up victory against open-class opposition in the $65,000 Eagle Technology (1400m).
Marsh has always had a big opinion of Tardelli, who joined his stable as a three-year-old last season. He had begun his career with three two-year-old starts in Sydney for John O’Shea, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth and crossing the line less than four lengths from the subsequent Group One star Switzerland (Snitzel).
Tardelli won two races last season including the inaugural $100,000 Windsor Park Stud 3YO Trophy (1500m) on Champions Day at Ellerslie in March, and he was beaten by a neck by Doctor Askar (NZ) (Derryn) when second against older horses in the Gr.3 Easter Handicap (1600m). He also finished third to Savaglee (NZ) (Savabeel) in the Gr.2 Levin Classic (1400m) and to Sethito (NZ) (Super Seth) in the Listed (now Gr.3) Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m).
Tardelli won a trial impressively at Ellerslie on September 9 to set him up for Saturday’s raceday return, which Marsh went into with a quiet confidence that he might be about to do something special. That was exactly what the son of I Am Invincible delivered.
Jockey George Rooke slotted Tardelli into fifth spot, one off the rail, as Churchillian (NZ) (Churchill) and Quality Time (Amaron) led the field up to the home turn.
Tardelli cruised up alongside the leaders early in the straight while still under a tight hold from Rooke. The brakes were finally released with 200m remaining and the race was all over. Tardelli dashed clear within the space of a few powerful strides.
Rooke eased the $3 favourite down in the concluding stages of the race and he cruised to victory by two lengths over Cannon Hill (NZ) Ardrossan) and Livid Sky (NZ) (Proisir).
“I was a passenger today,” Rooke said. “My job was just to not get it wrong. He’s really shown us what he’s capable of.
“He relaxed beautifully today. He’s obviously matured a lot this time in, and he’s a lot stronger and clearly a lot better as well.
“He’s definitely a Group One horse. He’d be up there with some of the best I’ve sat on. I’ve ridden some nice horses over in England too, but this one feels like a very nice horse.”
Tardelli has now had 12 starts for three wins, five placings and $216,509 in stakes. He races in the colours of Lib Petagna’s JML Bloodstock, who shares ownership with Hawridge Developments, Jamieson Park and the Little Avondale Trust.
“That was special,” Marsh said. “He’d been coming up so well this time in. I was actually a bit nervous before the race. I expected something along those lines, but you never know. Once I saw him trot up like that in the straight, I knew it was all over a long way from home.
“He’s a serious animal and has a lot ahead of him. I told George to just ride him like the best horse in the field, and if he’s as good as we think he is, he’ll do the rest. He really did that and it was a pleasure to watch.
“I thought we’d aim him at the Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Group One level, but that’s been downgraded to Group Two now. That was the race I identified as his target about six months ago. But I’m sure there’ll be a Group One for him somewhere.”
