That is the main objective for Nick Bradley Racing’s five-year-old, who has been skilfully revitalised by Yorkshire trainer Karl Burke after two years of setbacks.
Marshman won a valuable trial for the Easter showpiece in January following a gelding operation and wind surgery before stepping up to land the Listed Kachy Stakes at Lingfield Park.
Software developer Angus, who bought one of 20 shares in the son of Harry Angel as a yearling and has missed only one of his 15 races so far, is excited about the season ahead – with one eye also on a return to Royal Ascot in June.
“It’s been a catalogue of unbearable excitement, crushing disappointment and countless sleepless nights over the last three years but I wouldn’t change a thing,” says Salford based Angus, who first became hooked on racing as a teenager.
“When he won at Thirsk as a two-year-old I was physically shaking with excitement because we all realised we had something special. He went off favourite for the Gimcrack the week after and finished second – we had the world at our feet.”
Marshman began his eagerly anticipated three-year-old campaign with a Group 3 win in France but after disappointing runs at Royal Ascot and Sandown an injury was discovered that cut his season short. “We had his season mapped out but had to scrap our plans and wait until the following year,” recalls Angus. “We’d been dreaming about winning a big sprint but our highs quickly became lows.”
Eight months later Marshman ran second in a Listed race at Doncaster and the dream was alive but hope and expectation quickly turned to despair yet again. “He ran so poorly at York and Haydock Park and was clearly going backwards,” he adds.
“His jockey Clifford Lee felt he made a noise at Haydock so within a few weeks Karl had his wind tweaked and had him gelded. Once again, it was a waiting game to see if he could come back anywhere near as good as he was as a two-year-old.”
This time, a seven-month lay-off appeared to do the trick as Marshman, stepping into a handicap for the first time, scored an impressive victory at Newcastle in a valuable trial for Good Friday Finals Day. “It was such a relief because we knew he was back to his best. He’d been working well at home and showed us all at Newcastle that he’d still got that fire in him.”
Two weeks later Marshman excelled again when he stepped up to Listed company to claim some notable scalps in the Kachy Stakes, setting himself up for a crack at the £150,000 Sprint Final. “I wasn’t sure he’d handle Lingfield but he found considerable improvement to win again,” adds Angus.
“He has an entry in the Listed Hever Sprint Stakes at Southwell but is more likely to step up to seven furlongs in the Listed Lady Wulfruna Stakes at Wolverhampton in March as Nick and Karl are keen to see if he stays. Then it’s back to six furlongs at Newcastle on Finals Day.”
However, Angus and his Nick Bradley Racing friends have hopes and dreams beyond the All-Weather Championships. “We’re hoping he can run in all the big sprints on turf but the Jubilee at Royal Ascot would be amazing. We’ve been though all sorts of emotions so it would be very special to see him finally prove himself a top-class sprinter,” says Angus.
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