Abernant next on the agenda for Marshman

The four-year-old was stepping back up to six furlongs for his first outing of the season after predominantly running over shorter distances last year.

Under Clifford Lee, the colt started as the 3/1 joint-favourite and ran a fine race to finish second by a neck when collared by William Haggas’ Montassib on the line.

The performance has warranted the decision to return to the six-furlong trip over which Marshman was second in the Gimcrack as a two-year-old, with the Group Three Abernant at Newmarket and the Group Two Duke of York Stakes on the agenda for the spring.

Nick Bradley of owners Nick Bradley Racing, who also owned the sixth and seventh-placed horses in the race, said: “My other two horses were in the brunt of the headwind and both found the last furlong a furlong too far.

“Marshman took it up and he was just beaten by a very good horse that the race was run to suit.

“I couldn’t have been happier with Marshman’s performance, for me it was one of the best three or four performances of his career.

“I was speaking to Kelly and Karl (Burke) this morning and we’re now thinking that we’re going to go to the Abernant at Newmarket and he’ll have an entry in the Duke of York next week.

“That’s the plan, Abernant then Duke of York.”

Marshman’s run was part of a successful meeting for Bradley’s horses, with Look Back Smiling taking first place for trainer Gemma Tutty in the Spring Mile Handicap.

“I did think going into it that he was our best chance of the weekend, he had underfoot conditions to suit, the track was perfect for him and the trip was perfect for him,” he added.

“Brandon (Wilkie) gave him a brilliant ride, when he got to the front he didn’t idle but he did wander around a bit and Brandon did a great job of keeping him straight to the line. Hats off to Gemma – to get a horse like that ready on the opening day of the season deserves a great amount of credit.”

Look Back Smiling will require cut in the ground wherever he goes next and there is a long-term plot to target a valuable handicap at Ascot in October.

“He is ground dependent, I’ve sent a list of about 12 races to the owners – a couple at Redcar, a couple at the Craven meeting,” Bradley said.

“He’s a horse that when we get him on a straight track over a mile, he is in his optimum conditions. I’m thinking a long way ahead but I’ve got the Balmoral Handicap on Champions Day in mind.

“He isn’t going to be high enough to get in that just yet, I’m hoping by the end of the season he’ll be rated high 90s and we can go for something like the Balmoral.”

Bradley also looks to have a promising recruit in Grant Tuer’s Indication Ember, who finished third with a taking run on her racecourse debut in the Brocklesby.

“Her pedigree screamed soft ground at us, so we wanted to get her out when soft ground was a certainty,” he said.

“She was staying on right to the line, she ran the fastest final furlong and she’s going to go to Redcar on April 15, all being well.

“I don’t think I’d swap her for any other horse in the race. Sam (James, jockey) was very bullish after the race and we’ve got a couple at home who go as well as her. It did put a spring in our step, a nice run in what was the first two-year-old race of the season."

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