MARSHA SET FOR DOUBLE
MARSHA won’t lack for support in her bid to land back-to-back wins in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Chantilly on Sunday with 50 of her owners making the trip to France for the big sprint.
The four-year-old is guaranteed a huge following as she is owned by Elite Racing Club, and her fan club will be rocking up in France.
Marsha, trained by Sir Mark Prescott, has certainly done them proud, collecting more than half a million pounds in prize money with seven wins from 16 starts.
She took the Group One Abbaye a year ago with a career-best performance under regular rider Luke Morris who will again be in the saddle.
Since that glorious Chantilly afternoon she has landed two more big prizes — the Group Two Palace House Stakes at Newmarket and, last time out, the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes at York, where she beat American star Lady Aurelia.
That was a top-class performance, so it is no surprise that Marsha is Paddy Power’s 2-1 favourite to emulate the great Lochsong, the last horse to win the race in successive years (1993-94).
The Elite Racing Club website is understandably abuzz about their French mission, saying: “Marsha has been in good form following her famous nose defeat of Lady Aurelia at York last month, so we are very hopeful for a good run in Paris.
“It would be a pipe dream to think our home-bred daughter of Acclamation can add a third Group One to her already incredible portfolio and the main opposition appears to be Battaash, who finished fourth in the Nunthorpe, having previously beaten Marsha in soft ground in the King George Stakes (at Goodwood).”
Paddy Power bet: 2 Marsha, 9-2 Battaash, 7 Signs Of Blessing, 8 Caravaggio, 10 Blue Point, 16 Profitable, 20 Cotai Glory, Muthmir, 33 Son Cesio.