![\"Well](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/breednet-images-well-written-proisir-32106.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNew Zealand Horse of the Year Well Written remains on track for the A$10 million Gr.1 Golden Eagle (1500m) after losing her unbeaten record at Randwick.<\/p>\n
Well Written finished sixth in the Gr.1 TAB Epsom (1600m) after an eventful run in which she received some buffeting in the straight when trying to mount a challenge.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trainer Stephen Marsh said Well Written pulled up with \u201cthe thumps\u201d, or Synchronous Diaphragmatic Flutter, a condition that happens when the diaphragm contracts in sync with the heartbeat, resulting in a thumping-like noise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never actually had a horse with the thumps before, but about half an hour later she was good,\u201d Marsh said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a little bit stressed, a little bit overheated; it was quite muggy, but even an hour later she seemed really good and today she\u2019s great. I\u2019m very happy with the way she looks and we\u2019re certainly pushing on to the Golden Eagle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well Written may not have been helped by being caught three-back on the rail, as most of the horses that figured in the finish in the last few races had been running away from the fence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t get a lot of rain but they seemed to get away from the rail very quickly, didn\u2019t they,\u201d Marsh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe track wasn\u2019t bad but it got quite rough in the straight. She came out a bit abruptly and she got pushed around quite a lot. I just think a whole lot of things worked against her \u2013 it was also a month between runs. Nothing quite worked out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, three of the five horses ahead of her, including the winner God\u2019s Window, carried 50kg to her 55kg \u2013 she would have been at least 7kg better off at weight-for-age \u2013 and the only two horses ahead of her with higher weights were Ceolwulf and Tom Kitten, multiple Group One winners at a mile that have won nearly A$17 million between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weight was always a little bit of a question mark. It was a lot of weight for a mare, for sure,\u201d Marsh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she certainly didn\u2019t disgrace herself by any stretch of the imagination, and though there were some good horses in front of her, there were also some bloody good horses behind her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marsh said no decision had been made yet about whether her Epsom jockey Zac Lloyd would be aboard for the Golden Eagle.<\/p>\n
Back at home, Marsh\u2019s three-year-old Shambo Jack put himself into contention for spring features when breaking his maiden in style over 1400m at Matamata.<\/p>\n
Third in the Listed Timberspan Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m) at his previous start, Shambo Jack came from well back to defeat the well-regarded Cambridge Stud filly Joyeuse by a head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he won really well. It was a nice field of three-year-olds,\u201d Marsh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a horse I\u2019ve always really liked and he\u2019s a better horse now we\u2019re riding him off the speed. We\u2019ve probably been riding him a bit handy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shambo Jack will now be set for the Gr.2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Rapa on October 26, where a good effort will likely persuade Marsh to head south for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m).<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at him yesterday, you\u2019d think a mile at Riccarton would be right up his alley,\u201d Marsh said.<\/p>\n
Shambo Jack will be joined in the Sarten Memorial by Raymond, the third placegetter in the Gr.2 The Foxes @ Novara Park Hawke\u2019s Bay Guineas (1400m), who will also be on trial for the 2,000 Guineas.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaymond looks a really progressive horse and was really good in the Hawke\u2019s Bay Guineas. They\u2019re two promising three-year-olds.\u201d \u2013 LOVERACING.NZ News Desk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand Horse of the Year Well Written remains on track for the A$10 million Gr.1 Golden Eagle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-621030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}