Almost four decades after his late father John Marshall won the second of his two Stradbroke Handicaps aboard Robian Steele, Talyor Marshall has celebrated his maiden Group One victory in Queensland’s most prestigious race.
Marshall partnered the Toby Edmonds-trained Spicy Martini ($13) to a thrilling win in Saturday’s $3 million Eagle Farm showpiece, the mare bursting from the pack and holding on to score by a length over the late-closing Sepals ($31) with Von Hauke ($41) another three-quarters of a length away third.
Starting his riding career in 2013, Marshall’s biggest win had been at Group 3 level and he admitted he was imaging what advice his famous father would have been offering when Spicy Martini hit the front.
“I was thinking of Dad saying, ‘patient, patient’. But what a thrill,” Marshall said.
“Every jockey needs that one horse to put them on the map, so to speak, and I’m hoping she’s that one.
“She has already proven to jag a Group One, and not only a Group One, but Queensland’s most prestigious race. I’m lost for words.”
John Marshall was a champion jockey who rode regularly for Bart Cummings, combining with him to capture the 1999 Melbourne Cup on Rogan Josh, while his two Stradbroke wins aboard Campaign King (1989) and Robian Steele (1989) were both for the legendary trainer.
John Marshall sadly died in December, 2018 at the age of 60.
Spicy Martini has been an incredible buy for trainer Toby Edmonds, who purchased her online for $8000, and she has now won six of her 12 starts and just shy of $2.7 million in stakes.
Her victory gave Edmonds his second Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) crown and he was happy to soak this one in given his first with Tyzone in 2020 came during the height of the Covid breakout.
“To win it twice is big. It’s big for me. I’m sixty years of age now, I don’t know how many more years of training I’ve got to go,” Edmonds said.
“I’ll tell you one thing, you give me a horse like this, I’ll win another one too.”
Top mare Fangirl didn’t enjoy the heavy conditions but tried her heart out, finishing fourth in a performance jockey James Mcdonald rated among the best of her career.
“She always runs her heart out, but today under trying circumstance she was superb,” McDonald said.
“I thought it was one of the better runs of her career. She doesn’t really handle it (heavy track), but she had the audacity to fight on.”
Trainer Chris Waller indicated earlier this week Fangirl would race on next season and possibly resume in the Winx Stakes (1400m) in August.
