For a barrier rogue bought for just $700, Bad Kitty is proving a bargain basement investment for Moruya trainer John Marzol and his wife, Julie.
The four-year-old mare will be out to again prove her early detractors wrong when she tackles the Pirtek Benchmark 60 Hcp (1000m) at Goulburn on Sunday.
Marzol, a former Wagga publican, has a happy knack of selecting tried horses and cast offs cheap and turning them into multiple winners.
“I’m always on the lookout for a bargain,” Marzol said from the Inglis tried horse sale in Sydney on Friday.
“I’ve had a bit of luck at the caper.
“Hopefully I can find another Bad Kitty this time around.”
Marzol got Bad Kitty, a daughter of leading American sire Tale Of The Cat for $700 at last year’s sale.
“She was a barrier rogue, that’s why she went so cheap. No-one wanted her,” Marzol said.
“I just liked her, liked her breeding.”
Bad Kitty had been with two previous trainers without making it to the racetrack.
Marzol, always one up for a challenge, decided to take a punt and brought her back to his southern stables.
“We put a lot of work into her at the barriers,” he said.
“Walking her in an out. It took time but she just got better and better.
“And she’s not boxed up in a stable, she’s in a yard. Her demeanour has improved. She’s settled right down.”
After passing two barrier trials tests in September, Bad Kitty made her debut over 920m on her home track on October 1.
“You wouldn’t believe it she came out at the tail end,” Marzol said.
“I thought she was gone but she ended up coming from last to win.”
Marzol knew the mare could gallop from day one. It was a matter of keeping her settled and happy in her new environment.
Enter Marzol’s wife Julie.
“Bad Kitty’s her pet,” Marzol said.
“It’s funny how they get on. Bad Kitty has taken to Julie. She nuzzles up to her, puts her head over Julie’s shoulders and follows her around in the yard.
“I don’t think Julie will ever let me sell her.”
After Moruya, a second at Wagga and wins at Nowra and Gundagai followed.
“She should be unbeaten,” Marzol said.
“At Wagga, she jumped with the winner (Mexican Mouse) but was taken back. Luck didn’t go her way.
“She’s a mare that puts 110 per cent into everything, trackwork, races, whatever she does. She’s not real big but got a ton of heart.
AAP TURF
