Waikato owner-trainer Carol Marshall is hoping she can break through for her first win at Trentham when her classy mare Giovana tackles the $130,000 Thorndon Mile on Saturday.
Giovana is one of the many group race winners that will contest the group-one Thorndon, which is shaping as one of the best 1600m fields seen in New Zealand for some time.
Marshall has had only a handful of runners at Trentham over the years but has rarely been far away from winning when she has ventured south.
She prepared the talented filly Pass A Glance to run second to Solveig in the 1985 New Zealand Oaks, and Wiki Wiki ran sixth in the Anniversary Handicap in 1997 before having a luckless run in the Thorndon Mile.
Marshall also brought the classy mare Sequita south for her boss, Bob Morris, to tackle the 2ZB Golden Mile in 1982 for a creditable fifth.
Marshall, who has worked for Morris for 26 years, has been involved with horses most of her life and got into racing after selling a prominent show horse named Second Mate. He was later a member of the Japanese Olympic team in Munich.
Her first thoroughbred purchase was the Beau Diable filly Flat Tax from a Waikato yearling sale. She raced the filly, who won one race, in partnership with her father, Noel.
Marshall has continued to breed from the family and Giovana represents the fourth generation.
Her dam Tristaine, grand-dam Tristina and great grand-dam Pacific Isle were all leased to Australian stables, with Geoff Murphy preparing Tristina to win the Queensland Derby.
It is only by chance that Marshall is racing Giovana after the filly was sold to Melbourne trainer Colin Alderson for $20,000 at the National Yearling Sales at Karaka in 1998.
But the filly, who was left in Marshall's care, subsequently suffered an injury which Marshall said left the horse blind in one eye.
With the filly unable to race, Marshall cancelled the sale and retained her. But Marshall said that somehow the sight returned 14 months later and the horse was put into work.
Giovana, the first horse Marshall has raced on her own, has gone from strength to strength, recording five wins and nine placings from her 17 starts and amassing $408,786 in stakes.
Her major success was last year's group-one Queensland Oaks (2400m) and she recently chased Zonda home when second in the group-one The Oaks Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on January 2.
That was her third run back this campaign and Marshall has had to freshen her to bring her back to 1600m in the Thorndon.
"I gave her a week of swimming and light work after Ellerslie and stepped her up again last week," she said.
"She's freshened up nicely and bouncing around.
"But it's a very good field and she has got a big weight for a mare that's not overly big."
Marshall is using the Thorndon as a stepping stone to bigger things and would have preferred not to come to Trentham at this time.
"It's very busy at the moment with yearlings being prepared for the sales, but there were no other options for Giovana."
She is preparing three yearlings for the sales, including a half-brother to Giovana by Volksraad which she owns herself.
The other two yearlings - a Zabeel colt and a Pentire filly - are both owned by Morris. They will all be sold as part of the Cambridge Stud draft.
Once safely through Trentham, Giovana will tackle the groupone $100,000 weight-for-age International Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa, Hamilton, on February 10, before joining Roger James' team heading to Melbourne.
Her main aim in Melbourne will be the $A1.25 million weight-for-age Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on March 12.
- NZPA
Racing: Weight concerns for Giovana
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