Photo: Trish Dunell
Three-year-old filly Whooshka is a maiden no longer, having won the Caduceus Club Mobile Pace (2200m) at Alexandra Park on Friday night.
The daughter of Sportswriter burnt off the mobile arm to take an early lead for trainer-driver Kyle Marshall, and she remained in control throughout, before holding out the late challenge of Ronda to win by a nose.
Whooshka has placed in three of her previous five starts and Marshall was pleased to chalk up her first win on the board.
“This time in she has just taken a bit of time to get fit, and after a couple of runs she is just getting better and better,” the Cambridge horseman said.
“Her last start she didn’t have things to suit. I think she is a horse that can come off hot speed, but I think they just went a bit slow for her and she is a bit lazy out of the mobile.
“We put the blinds on her after and she was a bit sharper on Friday as a result.”
Friday’s win was Marshall’s 11th training victory of the season, two shy of his previous best tally, and he admitted it has been a somewhat frustrating time for the stable.
“I have found the season really hard,” he said. “We have really only started to come good in the last three weeks and before that we were struggling.
“We probably just had the wrong horses around us, but we have got a lot of young ones coming through, so that’s exciting.
“Whooshka is a nice three-year-old. We have got about five three-year-old fillies that are handy enough, and I see them winning a couple of more.”
Looking ahead to next season, Marshall is excited by the prospects of a couple of young trotters in his barn, as well his five purchases from NZB Standardbred’s National Yearling Sale in February.
One particular young trotter he holds in high regard is Dellario, a three-year-old gelding by Dejarmbro, who is represented by just six progeny in New Zealand.
“I have qualified Dellario, I like him, he is going to be a handy wee trotter,” Marshall said. “He has taken a bit of time for Trevor Casey (breeder-owner), but I quite like him.” – Cambridge Raceway
