Sunday’s Forsman Racing 3YO (1200m) at Te Rapa could put comeback galloper Super Photon on a Group 3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) collision course with his similarly resurgent stablemate Velocious.
Both Super Photon and Velocious were stakes-winning two-year-olds last season for trainer Stephen Marsh.
They both underwent wind operations after failing to show their best form in the spring, and in a hugely rewarding day for the Cambridge stable, they both returned to action with first-up wins on March 29 – Velocious in an open sprint at Te Aroha and Super Photon in a three-year-old race at Trentham.
Last season’s champion two-year-old Velocious now has the Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes at Te Rapa on April 26 squarely in her sights, and this Sunday’s three-year-old race over the same course and distance will determine whether Super Photon joins her.
“It was great to see him come back the way he did at Trentham, and I really liked the way he won that race,” Marsh said.
“He’s taken plenty of improvement from that first-up outing as well.
“I’m very happy with how the horse is shaping up for this race on Sunday, which will help us work out what we do with him next. We could keep him to 1200m for the Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes, or we could look to step him up to 1400m.”
The beautifully bred Super Photon is by Waikato Stud’s rising star sire Super Seth and is a half-brother to the multiple Group 1 winner Mo’unga.
Super Photon was a $380,000 yearling purchase at Karaka by Stephen Marsh Racing, Dylan Johnson Bloodstock and major stable clients Bourbon Lane and Dennis Foster.
Super Photon has recorded three wins and a second from his seven starts so far, headed by a Listed win in the Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre 2YO Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa last autumn.
That black-type victory came in his only previous start at the Hamilton track.
George Rooke will ride Super Photon in Sunday’s $35,000 race, for which bookmakers rate him a $5 chance.
Super Photon will be joined in Sunday’s race by his stablemate She’s Untouchable.
Since winning on debut in November, the Capitalist filly has run third in the Group 3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), sixth in the Group 3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m), eighth in the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m), third in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series Final (1400m) and a last-start fourth in the Group 2 Wellington Guineas (1400m).
She’s Untouchable will be ridden by Matt Cartwright in Sunday’s race, where she has drawn gate one and is rated a $3.80 chance.
“She’s been brilliant throughout this campaign,” Marsh said.
“She’s had a little freshen since her great run in the Wellington Guineas. She galloped this (Friday) morning and Matt Cartwright was rapt with her. She can put herself in a prominent position from that good draw and can definitely make her presence felt. She’s really well.”
Marsh sees Super Photon and She’s Untouchable as the headline acts in his Te Rapa team, the rest of which has been dealt a blow by a number of wide barrier draws.
“We’ve been plagued with bad luck with our draws through the rest of that Te Rapa card, including with some two-year-olds who we might end up saving for Matamata next Thursday instead,” he said.
“But I’m really looking forward to seeing how both of those three-year-olds go.”
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