Resurgent Mongolian Marshal (NZ) Too Strong in Winter Championship Final

Well-performed Karaka graduate Mongolian Marshal (NZ) (High Chaparral) capped a welcome form resurgence with a powerful come-from-behind performance in Saturday’s A$160,000 Listed Seppelt Wines VRC-CRV Winter Championship Series Final (1600m) at Flemington.

Bought by Rider Horse NZ for $220,000 from Cambridge Stud’s draft at the 2016 Premier Sale at Karaka, Mongolian Marshal has now won eight of his 39 starts, with a further 10 placings and A$550,552 in stakes – more than double his purchase price.

Mongolian Marshal began his career in the Cambridge stable of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, for whom he won six races including the Group Three Waikato Cup (2400m) at Te Rapa in December of 2018. He also placed in the Group Three Counties Cup (2100m), along with an earlier fourth-place finish in the Group Two Tulloch Stakes (2000m) in Sydney as a three-year-old.

After a dip in form and a win drought that spanned almost two years, Mongolian Marshal provided a reminder of his quality with a victory in Kyneton Cup (2000m) last November.

A more significant win followed at Flemington on May 22, followed by a last-start third placing at Sandown. On Saturday, he recorded his biggest victory yet on Australian soil.

Ridden by Brett Prebble for Adelaide trainer Stuart Gower, the six-year-old settled in third-last before swooping to victory with an irresistible burst down the outside of the track.

“He’s a little beauty,” Prebble enthused. “Last start it was just too wet for him, he kept dipping and diving, and I was just praying that the rain would go away last night. We had 7mm, but the track is perfect.

“He got his footing and showed that good turn of foot today and got up on them quick. I was very mindful of getting to the front too early. It was a long 300 metres last time when I got to the front on him, so I bided my time.

“He won with a fair bit left. He’s really peaking now. Stuey (Gower) has got him flying. He has done a great job getting him back to this form.

“It was a bit of a muddling sort of run race, so I popped him out, got him into his gear without actually asking for his effort until I needed to. Then, when I did, I gave him one ‘bang’ just to keep him straight. He’s really honest and he went to the line without much encouragement.

“Now I know his tricks, and there’s another win in him for sure. He’s a lovely horse."