Marchman continues upward trend in Twin Spires Turf Sprint

Marchman has proven himself the swiftest dasher on Kentucky grass this spring (Rickelle Nelson/Horsephotos.com) Twenty days after registering a 23-1 upset of the Shakertown over Keeneland’s turf course, Martin Racing Stable’s Marchman turned in another winning performance, this time in the Grade 3, $167,550 Twin Spires Turf Sprint before a huge Kentucky Oaks Day throng at Churchill Downs. More heavily backed at the windows this time around as the 3-1 second choice, Marchman, who went wire-to-wire in the Shakertown, was slightly more reserved in this five-furlong dash, allowing the 3-1 favorite Sum of the Parts to seize control from the outside and post an opening quarter of :22. After the front runner shifted over near the hedge, Marchman found himself in a stalking position outside that rival and gradually erased an early one-length deficit. Turning for home, Marchman was clearly going the better of a tiring Sum of the Parts. The eventual winner opened up a two-length lead through a half in :44 1/5, and won by 1 1/2 lengths under Robby Albarado in a time of :56 over firm ground and paid $8.80.

“We anticipated Sum of the Parts setting the pace. He went to the front the
last time he ran but (trainer) Bret (Calhoun) said he’d be fine with a target to
run at, so he found a target and came home nice,” Albarado said. “He cleared
pretty quick. Obviously, when there is only one horse in front of you it is not
hard to get an outside position. I felt very confident in him. I squeezed on him
and he went on by Sum of the Parts commandingly.”

Undrafted, a 6-1 chance, rallied to beat Shakertown runner-up Positive Side
for second by a neck. Completing the order of finish were Scatman, Havelock, Sum
of the Parts, Stormofthecentury, Ancil, and Googleado.

Marchman broke his maiden in third career start, defeating special weight
rivals over the turf at Churchill Downs last year in June, and captured an
allowance event over Del Mar’s Polytrack two starts later. He followed with a
sixth in his stakes debut, the six-furlong Phoenix over Keeneland’s Polytrack
last October, and recorded a second in the six-furlong Bet on Sunshine over
Churchill Downs’ main track a month later.

The son of Sharp Humor returned to the turf at Fair Grounds in late November,
registering his first stakes victory in the one-mile Woodchopper, and earned a
brief freshening after a 10th in the grassy Buddy Diliberto Memorial at 1 1/16
miles in mid-December. Marchman returned to action in February, posting a third
in an off-the-turf allowance before finishing a respectable third in the March 15 Colonel Power at about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.

“He’s getting better and better. He loves turf. He can run on dirt, but right
now we’ll keep him sprinting on turf,” Calhoun said. “I don’t have a race in
mind yet, but I’ll keep the Breeders’ Cup in the back of my mind.”

Marchman will arrive at his next destination with a mark of 13-5-2-3,
$325,354.

Bred in Kentucky by Lynn and Kathy Jones, Marchman RNA’d as a yearling at the
2011 Fasig-Tipton Maryland October sale before selling for $90,000 to his owners
at the OBS April two-year-old sale in 2012. He is the only registered foal out
of the unraced Indian Charlie mare Sookie Sookie and his third maternal dam, the
With Approval mare One Over Prime, produced multiple Grade 3 hero Twilight
Meteor.

A pair of Canadian champion two-year-old fillies, Poetically and Primaly;
Grade 1 winner Citronnade; and Grade 3 victor Whiskey Wisdom all hail from
Marchman’s fourth maternal dam.

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