Well Written ready to raise the bar in Proisir Plate

Image: Well Written (Credit: Inglis)

Having launched into the spring in style courtesy of Perfect Chaos’ (Hello Youmzain) victory in the Wanganui Guineas (Listed, 1200m) at the weekend, trainer Stephen Marsh is now eagerly anticipating this Saturday’s Proisir Plate (Gr 1, 1400m) which marks the seasonal return of his equine headline, Well Written (Written Tycoon).

The glamour mare will put her unbeaten record on the line in New Zealand’s first elite-level contest of the campaign, which has attracted a crack field of weight-for-age performers including last-start Foxbridge Plate (Gr 2, 1200m) heroine Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) as well as Group 1 victors She’s A Dealer (Ace High) and Crocetti (Zacinto).        

With a $500,000 bonus up for grabs for the first NZB Kiwi (Listed, 1500m) runner from last season to win a New Zealand Group 1 this campaign, there is an additional incentive for Well Written to extend her picket fence to seven on Saturday, although mining magnate Yuesheng Zhang, whose Yulong operation acquired a 50 per cent share in the mare, isn’t exactly short of a dollar.   

The fact that Yulong has entrusted Marsh to prepare Well Written for her impending maiden voyage to Australia, which is scheduled to culminate in a mouthwatering clash with Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior) in the $10 million Golden Eagle (Gr 1, 1500m), is a real feather in the cap for the Cambridge conditioner.

How long she remains in training is yet to be confirmed, but Marsh is determined to savour every minute of his time with a mare whose relatively modest start in life – bought as a weanling for $32,500 before her trainer and his bloodstock agent Dylan Johnson subsequently picked her up for $80,000 on Gavelhouse Plus – has not proved any hindrance to achieving stellar success.   

Perhaps the sole note of caution is the ongoing wait for New Zealand’s leading form from last season to hold up in Australia, with highly-touted filly Lara Antipova (Russian Revolution) failing to fire in the Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) and both Seize The Day (I Am Invincible) and Belle Cheval (Savabeel) finishing last in their respective races at Caulfield on Saturday.

The miserly bookmakers still aren’t taking any chances with Well Written, however, pricing the mare as the $4 favourite for the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) over the Randwick mile in early October.

Saturday’s result will determine just how high her connections aim in Australia, and while Marsh concedes that there will inevitably be further improvement to come, there is no doubt in his mind that she is still forward enough to make a triumphant return to action.    

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t very excited to see her back at the races on Saturday,” said Marsh, who also intends to saddle up his recent recruit Media World (Written Tycoon) and well-bred stablemate Tardelli (I Am Invincible) in the Proisir Plate.

“The most recent trial [at Taupo on August 16] was everything we wanted to see from her, and probably even more. After a pretty soft first trial we asked her to do a little bit more that day, and she certainly responded. Then when Matt [Cartwright] got off her after their gallop at Ellerslie last Thursday, he said she’d never felt better. She’s going into the race ready to win, so we won’t be using a lack of fitness as an excuse if she gets beaten.  

“You can’t be going into Group 1 races half-cocked, especially when you’re taking on these tough older horses. She’s been racing in protected three-year-old company her whole life, and while she’s performed brilliantly so far she’s now taking on the big boys and girls, so we’ll find out just how good she is.

“We’ll need to see how she comes back before finalising her trip over to Australia, but at this stage the plan is to run her in the Epsom and the Golden Eagle. They’re not exactly easy races to win, so we’re aiming pretty high, but we obviously think she’s a bit special. She looks to be one of the most exciting and progressive horses to come out of New Zealand for a very long time, so we think it’s definitely worth having a crack at those sorts of races.”   

Well Written is unlikely to have any company on her flight over the Tasman Sea, but if her stablemate Perfect Chaos can continue to make strides in her three-year-old season, there is every chance the filly is a contender to make the trip in the future.

Marsh and Johnson were pleasantly surprised to acquire Lot 38 for just $50,000 from the Oaks Stud draft at Karaka last year – particularly as Cambridge Stud’s shuttler Hello Youmzain (Kodiak) is growing in stature and the filly’s dam Kali (Darci Brahma) was a Group 3 winner – but the buying bench may have been dissuaded by her relatively small size.

What she may lack in physical scope is more than compensated by her fierce determination, however, as evidenced by her perfectly serene victory on an unsuitably heavy Wanganui track last Saturday, when she became her sire’s 15th stakes winner.

The New Zealand Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) has now been pencilled in as Perfect Chaos’ ultimate goal, via lead-up runs in the Gold Trail Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Hastings at the end of September and then the Soliloquy Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) – a race Well Written won last season by almost seven lengths en route to claiming the Guineas.

“Perfect Chaos has pulled up brilliantly from her win,” Marsh told ANZ.

“She had a long overnight trip back from Wanganui, so I was worried she might be a bit jaded from the travel but she looked as good as any horse in the stable this morning. Her run in the Soliloquy Stakes will probably tell us whether or not she gets a mile, but against their own sex and age group is probably the best time to find out. She’ll definitely be much better suited on a firmer surface, so hopefully we won’t get too much rain over the spring.     

“She was a very good buy, especially as she’s out of a really good mare. She was only a small yearling, but to my eye she looked like she was capable of growing into a really lovely filly. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t, but we got lucky with her because she’s really taken the next step physically and mentally, and she’s a good size now.

“I also love the stallion, and we’ve always bought his progeny at the sales since he first came over to New Zealand. He’s really doing the job over here and we’ve got a fair few in the stable which we have a decent opinion of, so hopefully they can give him another kick-along in the spring.”