While he wasn’t the first to arrive, Stephen Marsh will be the last to leave among the visiting trainers in Sydney for the autumn carnival.
The Marsh-trained No More Tears goes to Hawkesbury as the only horse standing among an interstate and New Zealand contingent sent to Sydney for a carnival that launched with Winx’s Group One win in the Chipping Norton Stakes.
A further 20 Group One races were decided with Marsh figuring on the autumn honour roll as the trainer of ATC Australian Oaks winner Sofia Rosa.
As Sofia Rose spells, No More Tears soldiers on to be rated one of the best chances to beat Handfast in the Group Three Hawkesbury Guineas on Saturday.
No More Tears earned a sprinkling of Australian black type to improve her pedigree page with a last-start placing in the J H B Carr Stakes at Randwick.
Her second to Yattarna was a welcome return to form after an unflattering Australian debut seven days earlier in the Sapphire Stakes.
“It was a massive turnaround from the start before where she finished last,” Marsh told the NZ Racing Desk.
“We couldn’t fault her and couldn’t find a reason why she went so badly at her first run in Sydney, so we backed her up and she went great.”
Marsh said No More Tears, a winner of four of her eight starts before coming to Australia, would have a favourable draw at Hawkesbury to complement her form on the training track.
“Her work on Tuesday was very good and I like the draw (barrier six),” he said.
No More Tears occupies the fourth line of betting as a $7 chance with Godolphin’s Handfast a warm favourite at $2.50 to make it back-to-back stakes wins.
“He’s come into his own this preparation and took a big step forward last start when we added blinkers for the first time just to help him focus,” Handfast’s trainer John O’Shea said.
