Arabian Songbird upstages Tardelli in Cambridge showdown

[Wandering Eyes]

Stephen Marsh ran rampant with wins in four of the first seven races at Ellerslie on Saturday, but his hottest favourite of the day had to settle for a placing as another Cambridge stable stole the show.

The Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained Arabian Songbird (NZ) (Pierro) took flight from the back of the field to upstage Tardelli (I Am Invincible) in the $65,000 Elsdon Park (1400m).

Marsh had been an unstoppable force until that point of the afternoon, winning the Gr.2 Windsor Park Stud Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) by almost seven lengths with Well Written (Written Tycoon) along with undercard victories by Miss Fladgate (Russian Revolution), Swiss Prince (NZ) (El Roca) and On The Town (NZ) (Blue Point).

“Someone had to stop him,” Wellwood quipped. “But I have to give a big shout out to Cambridge. Today’s results are testament to the quality of training centre we work at.”

While all eyes were on Tardelli following his dominant first-up victory over the same course and distance as Saturday’s race, Arabian Songbird also boasted a one-from-one record so far this season. She stormed home to take out a 1300m Rating 75 on September 6.

The Pierro mare was sent out as a distant second favourite at $5.70 on Saturday while Tardelli jumped at $1.90. The race appeared to be following that script as Tardelli cruised to the lead with 300m to run, but then Arabian Songbird turned that on its head.

After rounding the home turn with only two horses behind her, Arabian Songbird was angled to the outside by jockey Masa Hashizume and let rip. Capitalising on her 6kg advantage at the weights, she swept past Tardelli in the final 100m and went on to win by three-quarters of a length. The favourite’s stablemate Bourbon Empress (NZ) (Proisir) also edged him out to fill the runner-up position.

Arabian Songbird has now had 10 starts for five wins, two placings and $158,025 in stakes for owners Barneswood Farm. Four of those wins have come from only five appearances at Ellerslie.

“With the prize-money on offer here and the fantastic surface to race on, it’s a pretty good track to like,” Wellwood said.

“She was very impressive today. Masa gave her a patient ride and she showed a wonderful turn of foot.

“She’s an exciting mare and we’ve got a lot of options available to us from here. We’ll have a team talk with Barneswood Farm and come up with a plan. We could take her to Riccarton for the TAB Mile (Gr.3, 1600m), or there’s the Breeders’ Stakes (Gr.2, 1400m) at Pukekohe and even the possibility of a Group One at Trentham (TAB Mufhasa Classic, 1600m). We’ve got a lot to look forward to, wherever we end up going with her.”

Hashizume now boasts a four-from-five record with Arabian Songbird.

“She’s a fantastic mare, she’s very special,” he said. “She’s just the easiest horse to ride.

“The favourite is a good horse, but I knew he had a lot to weight to carry with 60.5kg. I knew from quite early in the straight that we were going to catch him.”

Arabian Songbird was bred by Jamieson Park and is by Pierro out of Rare Delight, which makes her a half-sister to the Group Two performer Saint Alice.

That mare raced in the tangerine and white colours of Barneswood Farm, who went back to the same well and bought Arabian Songbird for $260,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2022.

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