Well Written Remains Unbeaten With Brilliant Return

New Zealand’s pin-up racehorse Well Written (Written Tycoon) has followed up her flawless three-year-old season with a perfect start at four, easily beating a quality field in the $400,000 Group One Proisir Plate (1400m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.

Well Written was a sale-topping $80,000 purchase by Stephen Marsh Racing and Dylan Johnson Bloodstock from the 2024 NZB National Online Yearling Sale. She now boasts a perfect seven-from-seven record and more than $2.84m in stakes – 35 times her purchase price.

The Stephen Marsh-trained Well Written had a six-start, six-win season as a three-year-old including the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), Group Two Auckland Guineas (1400m), Group Two Soliloquy Stakes (1400m), $4m NZB Kiwi (1500m) and $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m).

Her four-year-old debut on Saturday was a new challenge, leaving her own age group and coming up against all comers under weight-for-age conditions. But Well Written rose to the occasion in the first Group One race of the new season and again showed why she is New Zealand’s most exciting racehorse.

The chestnut was ridden by Matt Cartwright and took up an ideal position in fourth and one off the rail.

The biggest challenge was expected to come from triple Group One runner-up and last-start Group Two Foxbridge Plate (1200m) winner Alabama Lass (Alabama Express), who threw down the gauntlet with a powerful kick to take a clear lead in the home straight.

But Well Written set her sights on that rival and began to move through her gears. She overpowered the second favourite and pulled away over the closing stages of the race to score a super-impressive victory by two lengths.

“I’m proud, really proud,” Marsh said. “I was very nervous, because it’s hard for these four-year-old mares to take on the older horses.

“When Alabama Lass kicked, I thought we were going to be second, but it was awesome to see Well Written really let down. She’s amazing, and full credit to Alabama Lass, who’s a very good mare and doesn’t go down without a fight.”

Marsh will now set his sights on Sydney, where Well Written’s potential targets include the Group One Epsom Handicap (1600m) and the A$10m Golden Eagle (1500m).

“She is very special – seven from seven, and she has now won well against the best weight-for-age horses we have,” Marsh said.

“She has a couple of big assignments ahead of her now, and I hope we are right on track. We have a month until the Epsom, so we will leave her here until pretty late and go over there near the race date, then on to the Golden Eagle.

“We will get her home first though and make sure she is 100 percent.”

Cartwright has been aboard for every single race of Well Written’s perfect seven.

“It is a little bit emotional to see her doing it at this level today, because she was still an unknown at weight-for-age,” he said.

“We enjoyed a lovely run, although she was racing on to the heels of Alabama Lass. So I popped out 100 metres earlier than I wanted to, because I wanted to keep her in a beautiful rhythm. When she kicked into gear, it was all over.

“If she can do that to the field that she was against today, I think she definitely has the quality to be right there in Australia and race at the top of her game.”

NZB graduates have now won eight of the last nine Proisir Plates, with Well Written following in the footsteps of Quintessa (NZ) (Shamus Award) last year, Grail Seeker (NZ) (Iffraaj) in 2024, Dark Destroyer (NZ) (Proisir) in 2022, Callsign Mav (NZ) (Atlante) in 2021 and 2020, and Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands) in 2019 and 2018.

Vendor	Brighthill Farm
Purchaser	Stephen Marsh Racing/Dylan Johnson Bloodstock (Waikato)
Breeding	Written Tycoon – Mozzie Monster
Sale	Lot 36, 2024 National Online Yearling Sale, $80,000
Breeder	Mr D Digney
Owner	Yulong Investment NZ Ltd, 8 Mates Syndicate, W L Bolton, Ms S E Bourke, N V Burnside, J Carter, V Carter ONZM, P Dench, N N Dobson, J R Gray, S W Hawkings, J Lewis, Rayas Bloodstock Ltd, P L Sparrow, Vencedor Partnership, M & R Yortt