\n\t\t\t\t\tBy Trevor Marshallsea\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Listen<\/p>\n
Trainer John McArdle is confident a \u201cbigger and stronger\u201d My Gladiola (I Am Invincible) can prove her doubters wrong by making a leap characteristic of her breed in her three-year-old season which launches on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The grey filly resumes in Caulfield\u2019s Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), for which she was rated an $8 third favourite on Thursday behind Team Hayes\u2019s $2.60 shot Scenic Point and Ciaron Maher\u2019s $3.80 chance Signature Scent \u2013 both of whom are by Written Tycoon (Iglesia) and are unbeaten after two starts.<\/p>\n
My Gladiola became an instant sensation in late January when she won the Blue Diamond Preview (Gr 3, 1000m) at Sandown in awe inspiring fashion. Given an economical run behind the pace by Jamie Mott from gate four, she produced a stunning burst of acceleration at the 200m to put the race to bed, scoring easing down by 1.5 lengths with a slick last 600 metres of 32.44 seconds.<\/p>\n
Things didn\u2019t quite go according to the script from there.<\/p>\n
She was sent out an odds-on favourite in the Blue Diamond Prelude (Gr 2, 1100m), was forced to lead after crossing from barrier ten, but after kicking two lengths clear at the 200 metres was collared at the 50 metres by Palm Angel (Starspangledbanner) and relegated to a one-length second.<\/p>\n
My Gladiola drew gate ten again in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) but was still backed from $8.50 to start a $7 third favourite. However, after settling eighth \u2013 three-wide but smothered up \u2013 she was in the clear early in the straight but made no impression on the leaders, finishing eighth.<\/p>\n
The sizeable filly \u2013 weighing in at around 530kg \u2013 may have received a bump from her inside approaching the turn. McArdle was also heartened that she was beaten four lengths, and 0.1 length behind Godolphin filly Tempted (Street Boss), who then ran third in the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) and won Randwick\u2019s Percy Sykes Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).<\/p>\n
In any event, McArdle is confident My Gladiola is the genuine article as seen in her paralysing debut win and should show it this spring, even if she should improve from Saturday\u2019s run in the three-year-old fillies\u2019 set weights event, after a long spell following the Blue Diamond.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy with her,\u201d Mornington-based McArdle told ANZ News.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, she\u2019s still got good improvement in her, since she\u2019s at the beginning of her spring. But she\u2019s had three quiet jump-outs, and did a bit of work in between.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the data looks like she\u2019s forward enough for a first-up tilt, but she\u2019ll certainly improve on whatever she does on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The barrier gods have again not been favourable. Mott \u2013 who\u2019s ridden her in every race and her recent jump-outs, will again have to negotiate barrier ten.<\/p>\n
After her extended spell, My Gladiola came back into work weighing around 548kg, McArdle said. She\u2019s had three jump-outs at Sandown, Mornington and Caulfield, running second each time, to help bring her weight back to 530kg.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s quite a powerful filly now,\u201d he said. \u201cShe always was, mind you, but she\u2019s got bigger and stronger now.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a trainer\u2019s perspective perhaps not matching that of some punters, McArdle said he was more than satisfied with My Gladiola\u2019s first campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say \u2018disappointed\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cWe won a Group 3, ran second in a Group 2 without any luck, and got beaten four lengths in a Group 1. I thought she did a great job.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the Blue Diamond, she got into a sticky spot, and had a bumping duel a couple of times during the race. That wasn\u2019t the difference between winning and losing, but we might have seen her finish a little closer. And she was beaten 0.1 of a length by Tempted, who came third in the Slipper.\u201d<\/p>\n
My Gladiola had been nominated for the Golden Slipper, but McArdle opted to spell her after the Blue Diamond.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a good prep. She had three runs in four weeks. She might have come to the end of it come Diamond day, but hopefully she matures up and is better as a three-year-old,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be a tough race on Saturday. There\u2019s some nice fillies in it. My filly has trialled well, time wise, but she still has to return.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m happy with where she\u2019s at, Jamie\u2019s happy with her, and I think she\u2019ll run a nice competitive race.\u201d<\/p>\n
One possible unknown for Saturday will be how My Gladiola handles the track. Caulfield was a soft 7 on Thursday, but with a 75 percent chance of rain forecast for Friday, and a 65 percent chance on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could get into the heavy range,\u201d McArdle said. \u201cI\u2019ve got no idea whether she handles it, so I guess we\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
McArdle is also slightly unsure whether the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) or the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) will be My Gladiola\u2019s main target this campaign.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s hopeful the hulking filly will live up to her bloodlines this spring.<\/p>\n
A $550,000 Inglis Easter purchase for McArdle\u2019s Redgum Racing, My Gladiola is the seventh foal of Villa Verde (Not A Single Doubt), a triple black type winner over 1000m, including of the ATC Challenge Stakes (Gr 2, 1000m), and a three-quarter sister to two more stakes winners by Not A Single Doubt in Doubtland (Not A Single Doubt) and Pretty Fast.<\/p>\n
And McArdle is also hoping she blossoms in the manner of so many other offspring of triple champion sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit).<\/p>\n
\u201cMost Vinnies of any sex get better from two to three,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a few, my mates have had a few, and the majority of them do get better as they get older. So I\u2019m hoping she\u2019s one of those.\u201d<\/p>\n
Statistics support that assertion.<\/p>\n
I Am Invincible\u2019s strike rates run at 36.4 per cent for two-year-olds, 61.9 per cent for three-year-olds, and 73 per cent for four-year-olds.<\/p>\n
The Yarraman Park sire\u2019s number of stakes winners at two holds up in comparison to at three and four, with 52, 51 and 59 respectively. However, their number of stakes wins leaps appreciably with age, with 58 at two, 86 at three, and 120 at four.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, co-trainer Gai Waterhouse is convinced the widely travelled bargain buy The Playwright (Written By) is well over the odds for the Quezette at $8.50.<\/p>\n
A $60,000 purchase for Tricolours Racing from Newhaven Park\u2019s draft in Book 2 at Magic Millions Gold Coast, The Playwright earned $347,000 from a first campaign very much fitting into the Tulloch Lodge playbook.<\/p>\n
She won a Rosehill two-year-old handicap on debut on a soft 7 at $13 before travelling to Brisbane to run a 1.6-length third in the BJ McLachlan Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) and a three-length fourth in the Gold Coast\u2019s Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m).<\/p>\n
The Playwright returned to Sydney for a narrow win in the Widden Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) \u2013 beating Tempted into second \u2013 and was then sent to Melbourne, where she was a 2.6-length fourth in the Blue Diamond after leading, at $21.<\/p>\n
She goes into the Quezette off two Sydney barrier trials, and will jump from gate six for Melbourne\u2019s premier jockey Blake Shinn.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s very, very good and will take a stack of beating,\u201d Waterhouse told ANZ. \u201cShe\u2019s well and truly over the odds.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a top class filly, who was fourth in the Blue Diamond and the Magic Millions. They don\u2019t run those placings if they\u2019re not among the best of the best. Some of them go ahead, and I feel she\u2019s really gone ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s absolutely spot on for a first-up run. I couldn\u2019t be happier with the way she\u2019s working, and she looks terrific.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlake Shinn partnered her on Tuesday and was delighted. She had a lovely little blow afterwards, recovered beautifully, and she\u2019s ready to step out on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s come back stronger. She\u2019s always going to be on the petite side, but she\u2019s a very beautiful filly, a real class filly, and she\u2019s got a heart like a lion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waterhouse is unsure how The Playwright might handle heavy going, but at least knows she\u2019s a well-seasoned three-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s gone to Queensland, gone to Melbourne \u2013 she\u2019s one of those marvellous fillies who\u2019ve been around the world in 80 days,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd once they\u2019ve already travelled they\u2019re so much more switched on. It really benefits a young horse hugely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Trevor Marshallsea Listen Trainer John McArdle is confident a \u201cbigger and stronger\u201d My Gladiola (I Am Invincible)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-67160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}