Better known as having raced iconic legend of the turf Pocket Power, the affable Marsh Shirtliff is fast making a name for himself in the breeding fraternity.
Top racing man Marsh Shirtliff leads in another winner with Candice Bass-Robinson on right and Sean Veale in the saddle (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
That much was evident this past weekend when a trio of fillies he bred in partnership with Hemel ‘N Aarde stud master David Hepburn-Brown nearly pulled off a unique stakes treble at Hollywoodbets Scottsville.
Juvenile filly Quickstepgal, an impressive six-length maiden winner at the Pietermaritzburg track in early March, followed up with a gutsy victory in the Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes.
The Tienie Prinsloo-trained miss is the first stakes winner out of Jet Master’s daughter Victoriana, who raced in Marsh’s silks and earned black type when runner-up in the Gr3 Champagne Stakes on just her third start.
Quickstep Gal gained her second victory this weekend (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Marsh confirmed that Victoriana’s latest yearling, an own sister to Quickstepgal, is bound for the KZN Yearling Sale, the same venue where Quickstepgal fetched R450 000 in 2024.
Thirty-five minutes later, fellow juvenile Elegantrix showed true grit to down her male rivals in the Gr3 Godolphin Barb Stakes. Trained by Corné Spies, the sole filly in the line-up opened her stakes account in a hard-fought finish.
“She’s the most expensive horse I’ve bought at auction,” Spies quipped of his latest stakes winner, whose R850 000 price tag rated her amongst the highest-priced lots at last year’s August 2YO Sale.
That price comes as no surprise, given that she is a half-sister to the very smart What A Winter four-year-old sprinter Elegant Ice, who earned Gr1 black type as a juvenile when third in the Allan Robertson Championship, a race Spies has also earmarked for Elegantrix.
Another Marsh masterpiece! Asiye Phambili races in the Hollywood Racing silks – she looks a serious contender for the SA Fillies Sprint next month (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Accomplished sprinter Asiye Phambili looked primed to complete the breeding partnership’s treble in the Gr3 Dennis Drier Poinsettia Stakes, a race she had won twelve months ago.
Under top weight of 62 kg, the daughter of What A Winter almost pulled off the double, but as the racing adage goes, weight stops trains, and in receipt of 8, 5kg, challenger Mai Sensation had her measure at the line. To rub further salt into the wound, jockey Sean Veale dropped his left rein shortly before the finish.
A R500 000 yearling purchase, Asiye Phambili has been a wonderful servant to Hollywood Racing, having added both the Gr2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes and Gr3 Southern Cross Stakes to last season’s Poinsettia.
Now five, she is set to return to the Pietermaritzburg track for another crack at the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint and trainer Duncan Howells is quietly confident it will be second time lucky for the mare, who had the misfortune of losing jockey Rachel Venniker at the start of last year’s race.
Hollywoodbets-sponsored Trainer Duncan Howells – has plans for Asiye Phambili (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
“She’s just getting better and seems to have overcome some physical niggles,” he remarked, “all Kudos to the Hollywood team, they have managed her with great skill.”
A Gr1 success by either of the trio wouldn’t be the first of the season for the breeding partnership, that honour belongs to another filly, the smashing three-year-old Fiery Pegasus, who annexed both the Wilgerbosdrift Gr1 SA Fillies Classic and Wilgerbosdrift Gr2 Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks.
Needless to say, success on the racetrack has also spilled over into the sales ring for the Shirtliff-Hepburn-Brown partnership.
They offered a Vercingetorix filly at last month’s National Yearling Sales and despite the dreaded coffin draw of being the first lot through the ring, the youngster opened the sale with a bang when knocked down to Form Bloodstock at a cool R3,25 million, the second-highest overall price.
She is the first foal of Gr1 Garden Province Stakes winner Zarina, which Marsh had campaigned in partnership with long-time pal Bryn Ressell and Ian Longmore.
Gavin Lerena drives Elegantrix to victory in the Godolphin Barb (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
It would be remiss not to mention that the weekend’s stakes results marked a coup for Vercingetorix.
Not only did he sire both Quickstepgal and Elegantrix, three-year-old son O’Tenikwa justified favouritism in the Listed In Full Flight Handicap, whilst the Clifton-bred Mai Sensation is out of his daughter Mai Tai.
In addition, the Maine Chance-based powerhouse had enjoyed a good day at the previous day’s Turffontein meeting, where he sired a one-three in the Gr2 Camellia Stakes won by daughter Mia Moo, sons Marauding Horse and Hotarubi ran second and third in the Gr2 Colorado King Stakes, and juvenile daughter Vanakkam was runner-up in the Gr3 Protea Stakes.
Having hogged the top of the General Sires log virtually all season, Vercingetorix is poised to lift the coveted championship, an historical first, given that he will be emulating his own sire Silvano, a feat not achieved before in modern times.
