Marshall planning a big night to mark one-year milestone

Talented young Kiwi horseman Kyle Marshall is hoping to celebrate the first anniversary of his move to Australia with his strongest hand yet at Saturday night’s Melton meeting.

Marshall, 30, shifted from NZ across to train a small harness racing team at the Cranbourne training complex this time last year and has turned plenty of heads. They’ve trained 28 winners and Marshall has posted 16 victories as a driver.

He and partner Sophie Jefferies have quickly grown the team to 18 horses in work, including exciting recent Kiwi import Bach (Bettor’s Delight)), who headlines their four runners in the opening race, the Italian Cup (2240m), at Melton. They’ve also got Smoken Ace (race three), Son Of Mac (four) and Copacabana (five).

There’s a chance Bach will join the growing army of Victorian horses heading to Brisbane next month to chase the riches of the Queensland Constellations at Albion Park.

“Watching Leap To Fame others up there, he’ll need to go really well this week to convince the owners to take him to Brisbane. The bar looks to be set pretty high,” Marshall said.

“He’s a lovely horse, though. He’s been a great addition to the stable, a real quality pacer.”

Marshall threw Bach straight into the deep end at his first Aussie start, but it went awry when he galloped and lost all chance in the Cranbourne behind the great Leap To Fame on February 10.

Bach, who won eight races in NZ, has since won all four starts, the latest in free-for-all class for the first time at Melton on April 13.

“He did a terrific job in a short period of time and we thought he could do with a little break,” Marshall said. “He’s had a couple of trials and they’ve been strongly run, which is great. He’s as ready to go as a horse like him can be because he’s not a great track-worker.”

Saturday night’s Italian Cup is another step-up in quality on Bach’s latest Markovina free-for-all win.

“It’s a good race, isn’t it,” Marshall said. “It’s a good test and will certainly give us a line on where he’s at with some of the nicer horses, especially if we’ve got any thoughts on Queensland.”

While optimistic with Bach, Marshall thinks talented three-year-old Smoken Ace in race three is his strongest winning chance of the night.

“Forget all about his first-up run,” he said. “We had a virus go through the stable and so many of the horses seemed well and even their bloods looked good, but they just didn’t fire. Smoken Ace was one of them first-up.

“He was ready to run last week, but had a minor stone bruise and hardly missed any work. He’s very fit and raring to go this week. I think he’ll be very hard to beat.”

Marshall is more cautious with his one-time stable star Son Of Mac, who is second-up from a long stint on the sidelines with some knee issues.

“He’s over the issues, the knees just needed tidying up, but he also had the virus when he didn’t fire first-up and he’s landed in what looks a strong race from a horrible (gate seven) draw,” he said.

“He’s not super quick out and he’ll improve on the run, so we’ll have to go back and drive him for one run.”

Honest trotting mare Copacabana’s excellent past two runs give Marshall confidence his team can bounce-back quickly from the virus.

“She had the bug and went awful at Melton and has come out and gone great in both runs since, including a terrific second at Melton last week. She is off the front in the stand and should run well again,” he said.

The highlight of Saturday night’s Melton card will be champion mare Ladies In Red’s quest for a 27^th win from just 35 starts in the Cinderella Stakes.

Trainer Emma Stewart is preparing the millionaire mare for a trip to Queensland next month where the $150,000 Group 1 Golden Girl (July 20) will be her main target.

by Adam Hamilton, for News Corp