Marvellous Marva eyes Owen Silvera Memorial
Philip Feanny has rewarded female apprentice Mellisa Ward with a second ride aboard ever-improving MARVELLOUS MARVA after her expert handling of the fiveyear-old mare in the Mark My Word trophy on Labour Day, May 23.
In an unlikely partnership of 14-time champion trainer and sparsely used female rider, Feanny gambled on Ward’s three-kilo apprentice claim for the nine-furlongs-and-25-yards Mark My Word trophy, resulting in a narrow allthe-way victory, beating Wayne DaCosta’s HOVER CRAFT by a head.
Going for a fourth win among open-allowance runners in as many tries since December 30, Feanny, always a stickler for weight, has recalled Ward to chip seven pounds off the grey mare in her rematch with HOVER CRAFT at a mile in Sunday’s Owen Silvera Memorial.
HOVER CRAFT is one of four in-form runners in the six-horse field from champion trainer DaCosta’s barn, completed by RADICAL, UNCLE FRANK and SUPERTRONICS, all recent winners. However, whereas MARVELLOUS MARVA is going for a fourth open-allowance victory, only HOVER CRAFT from DaCosta’s quartet has ever won at that level.
The weight swing, though, is a massive one in HOVER CRAFT’s favour, 15lb for losing by a head. HOVER CRAFT was declared with 110lb after carrying 125 on Labour Day. MARVELLOUS MARVA returns with 119lb, the exact weight she had in her plucky victory with Ward.
RAPID IMPROVEMENT
Despite giving weight all around, MARVELLOUS MARVA will still come out smelling like the rose she is because of her rapid improvement as a four-year-old at the back end of last season, completing a hat-trick of wins in January.
Since then, Feanny’s runner has won the Mark My Word and has faced grade one twice, the last being an admirable effort a week ago in the Viceroy Trophy, beaten four and a quarter lengths by HOUDINI’S MAGIC’s fast 1:50.4 at nine furlongs.
Always prominent throughout, MARVELLOUS MARVA sat in grade-one splits of 1:10.3 for six furlongs and 1:35.4 for a mile, a pace that ran two of the best horses in the country, WILL IN CHARGE AND BIGDADDYKOOL, totally off their legs.
Feanny’s runner is only nine pounds heavier than her Viceroy Trophy run and has the best mile time in the race, 1:38.2, clocked in January when carrying 115lb, making her a very tough horse to beat – handicaps, female apprentice, and all.