The Group 1 $1.5m The BMW (2400m) at Rosehill on Saturday could be the last hurrah for the 2015 Sydney Cup winner Grand Marshal if he fails to turn around his recent poor form.
The BMW at Rosehill could be the last hurrah for Grand Marshal, above, if he doesn’t turn around his poor recent form. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
Grand Marahsll has been well beaten at his two runs this campaign with a first up ninth to Winx in the Group 1 $600,000 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on February 25 followed by a ninth to Tavago in the Group 3 $350,000 McGrath Estate Agents Sky High Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on March 11.
The Dansili seven year old ran third behind stablemates Preferment and Who Shot Thebarman in last year’s BMW but trainer Chris Waller is struggling to see him being competitive this year.
“He must have run third in it last year. He is well below his best and we are hoping to see a form reversal from him and all we can do is hope,” Waller said.
“The wet track he will appreciate. He will appreciate the distance, but he does need to lift.”
“He’s going poorly. He needs to turn his form around. He needs to do something on Saturday to continue racing,”
“Grand Marshal’s been a good horse. He’s a Sydney Cup winner, he was third the Sydney Cup last year. He’s run in a couple of Melbourne Cups (2015-16), it takes its toll.
“He’s lost a bit of desire. He’s done a lot of miles.”
“Like all of us, we can only compete at our best for so long and he’s just starting to drop off, that last preparation included when he did happen to win a Moonee Valley Gold Cup.”
Grand Marshal had mixed form during the 2016 Melbourne Spring Carnival and after finishing second to Hartnell second up in the Group 2 $250,000 Tattersalls Club Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick went on to win the Group 2 $300,000 Antler Luggage Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) at Moonee Valley three runs later with two unplaced runs in between.
Waller then sent Grand Marshal around in the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington but he was always well back before finishing eleventh to Almandin.
Jason Collett takes the ride on Grand Marshal who has drawn barrier three in the nine horse field and the veteran stayer is the outsider of the field at $81 with Ladbrokes.com.au.
Last year’s Caulfield Cup winner Jameka heads the market order at $3.80 ahead of last week’s Ranvet Stakes winner Our Ivanhowe at $4, Tavago at $4.40, Humidor at $4.60 and Exospheric at $9.50.
Waller will also saddle up Who Shot Thebarman and Libran in The BMW, both stayers being marked as $34 outsiders.
