McArdle backing ‘bigger and stronger’ My Gladiola to make an impact on return
Trainer John McArdle is confident a “bigger and stronger” My Gladiola (I Am Invincible) can prove her doubters wrong by making a leap characteristic of her breed in her three-year-old season which launches on Saturday.
The grey filly resumes in Caulfield’s Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), for which she was rated an $8 third favourite on Thursday behind Team Hayes’s $2.60 shot Scenic Point and Ciaron Maher’s $3.80 chance Signature Scent – both of whom are by Written Tycoon (Iglesia) and are unbeaten after two starts.
My Gladiola became an instant sensation in late January when she won the Blue Diamond Preview (Gr 3, 1000m) at Sandown in awe inspiring fashion. Given an economical run behind the pace by Jamie Mott from gate four, she produced a stunning burst of acceleration at the 200m to put the race to bed, scoring easing down by 1.5 lengths with a slick last 600 metres of 32.44 seconds.
Things didn’t quite go according to the script from there.
She was sent out an odds-on favourite in the Blue Diamond Prelude (Gr 2, 1100m), was forced to lead after crossing from barrier ten, but after kicking two lengths clear at the 200 metres was collared at the 50 metres by Palm Angel (Starspangledbanner) and relegated to a one-length second.
My Gladiola drew gate ten again in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) but was still backed from $8.50 to start a $7 third favourite. However, after settling eighth – three-wide but smothered up – she was in the clear early in the straight but made no impression on the leaders, finishing eighth.
The sizeable filly – weighing in at around 530kg – may have received a bump from her inside approaching the turn. McArdle was also heartened that she was beaten four lengths, and 0.1 length behind Godolphin filly Tempted (Street Boss), who then ran third in the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) and won Randwick’s Percy Sykes Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).
In any event, McArdle is confident My Gladiola is the genuine article as seen in her paralysing debut win and should show it this spring, even if she should improve from Saturday’s run in the three-year-old fillies’ set weights event, after a long spell following the Blue Diamond.
“I’m very happy with her,” Mornington-based McArdle told ANZ News.
“Obviously, she’s still got good improvement in her, since she’s at the beginning of her spring. But she’s had three quiet jump-outs, and did a bit of work in between.
“All the data looks like she’s forward enough for a first-up tilt, but she’ll certainly improve on whatever she does on Saturday.”
The barrier gods have again not been favourable. Mott – who’s ridden her in every race and her recent jump-outs, will again have to negotiate barrier ten.
After her extended spell, My Gladiola came back into work weighing around 548kg, McArdle said. She’s had three jump-outs at Sandown, Mornington and Caulfield, running second each time, to help bring her weight back to 530kg.
“She’s quite a powerful filly now,” he said. “She always was, mind you, but she’s got bigger and stronger now.”
With a trainer’s perspective perhaps not matching that of some punters, McArdle said he was more than satisfied with My Gladiola’s first campaign.
“I wouldn’t say ‘disappointed’,” he said. “We won a Group 3, ran second in a Group 2 without any luck, and got beaten four lengths in a Group 1. I thought she did a great job.
“In the Blue Diamond, she got into a sticky spot, and had a bumping duel a couple of times during the race. That wasn’t the difference between winning and losing, but we might have seen her finish a little closer. And she was beaten 0.1 of a length by Tempted, who came third in the Slipper.”
My Gladiola had been nominated for the Golden Slipper, but McArdle opted to spell her after the Blue Diamond.
“It was a good prep. She had three runs in four weeks. She might have come to the end of it come Diamond day, but hopefully she matures up and is better as a three-year-old,” he said.
“This will be a tough race on Saturday. There’s some nice fillies in it. My filly has trialled well, time wise, but she still has to return.
“But I’m happy with where she’s at, Jamie’s happy with her, and I think she’ll run a nice competitive race.”
One possible unknown for Saturday will be how My Gladiola handles the track. Caulfield was a soft 7 on Thursday, but with a 75 percent chance of rain forecast for Friday, and a 65 percent chance on Saturday.
“It could get into the heavy range,” McArdle said. “I’ve got no idea whether she handles it, so I guess we’ll find out.”
McArdle is also slightly unsure whether the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) or the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) will be My Gladiola’s main target this campaign.
But he’s hopeful the hulking filly will live up to her bloodlines this spring.
A $550,000 Inglis Easter purchase for McArdle’s Redgum Racing, My Gladiola is the seventh foal of Villa Verde (Not A Single Doubt), a triple black type winner over 1000m, including of the ATC Challenge Stakes (Gr 2, 1000m), and a three-quarter sister to two more stakes winners by Not A Single Doubt in Doubtland (Not A Single Doubt) and Pretty Fast.
And McArdle is also hoping she blossoms in the manner of so many other offspring of triple champion sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit).
“Most Vinnies of any sex get better from two to three,” he said.
“I’ve had a few, my mates have had a few, and the majority of them do get better as they get older. So I’m hoping she’s one of those.”
Statistics support that assertion.
I Am Invincible’s strike rates run at 36.4 per cent for two-year-olds, 61.9 per cent for three-year-olds, and 73 per cent for four-year-olds.
The Yarraman Park sire’s number of stakes winners at two holds up in comparison to at three and four, with 52, 51 and 59 respectively. However, their number of stakes wins leaps appreciably with age, with 58 at two, 86 at three, and 120 at four.
Meanwhile, co-trainer Gai Waterhouse is convinced the widely travelled bargain buy The Playwright (Written By) is well over the odds for the Quezette at $8.50.
A $60,000 purchase for Tricolours Racing from Newhaven Park’s draft in Book 2 at Magic Millions Gold Coast, The Playwright earned $347,000 from a first campaign very much fitting into the Tulloch Lodge playbook.
She won a Rosehill two-year-old handicap on debut on a soft 7 at $13 before travelling to Brisbane to run a 1.6-length third in the BJ McLachlan Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) and a three-length fourth in the Gold Coast’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m).
The Playwright returned to Sydney for a narrow win in the Widden Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) – beating Tempted into second – and was then sent to Melbourne, where she was a 2.6-length fourth in the Blue Diamond after leading, at $21.
She goes into the Quezette off two Sydney barrier trials, and will jump from gate six for Melbourne’s premier jockey Blake Shinn.
“She’s very, very good and will take a stack of beating,” Waterhouse told ANZ. “She’s well and truly over the odds.
“She’s a top class filly, who was fourth in the Blue Diamond and the Magic Millions. They don’t run those placings if they’re not among the best of the best. Some of them go ahead, and I feel she’s really gone ahead.
“She’s absolutely spot on for a first-up run. I couldn’t be happier with the way she’s working, and she looks terrific.
“Blake Shinn partnered her on Tuesday and was delighted. She had a lovely little blow afterwards, recovered beautifully, and she’s ready to step out on Saturday.
“She’s come back stronger. She’s always going to be on the petite side, but she’s a very beautiful filly, a real class filly, and she’s got a heart like a lion.”
Waterhouse is unsure how The Playwright might handle heavy going, but at least knows she’s a well-seasoned three-year-old.
“She’s gone to Queensland, gone to Melbourne – she’s one of those marvellous fillies who’ve been around the world in 80 days,” she said.
“And once they’ve already travelled they’re so much more switched on. It really benefits a young horse hugely.”