By Michael Guerin
The marker pegs were paved with pacing gold in the Group 1s at Alexandra Park on Friday night.
But even for the biggest winners on the star-studded night could be excused for feelings of “what if” after all was said and done.
The three big ones for the hoppled heroes were taken out by Republican Party in the Dawson Harford Messenger, Marketplace in the Woodlands Derby and Arafura in the Pascoes the Jewellers Northern Oaks.
All were on the marker pegs throughout, as were the two trotting G1 winners for the night, and Arafura was the only G1 winner to not lead.
She took out the first of the big ones after trailing Beside Me and breaking the national 2700m fillies record without having to go around another horse.
While driver Tony Herlihy didn’t have to make too many decisions he still had to keep Arafura under control as her and Beside Me’s early burn got them both up and about over the Oaks distance, the favourite undoing herself more than Arafura did.
“She is a really strong filly and that was a huge help when going that speed,” said Herlihy.
“It is lovely to get this win for Amanda and Hayden [Cullen] while they are so early in their careers.”
The Cullens have had a wonderful last six months as the stable goes from strength to strength but the Oaks fortunes were reversed later in the night when Republican Party led and settled beautifully for Carter Dalgety and was too strong in the Group 1 while the Cullen-trained Don’t Stop Dreaming stormed for third.
While that might have left the Cullens with that “what if” feeling the reality was Republican Party deserved his win after a luckless autumn with poor draws and hard runs.
“We set him for this race because he loves the longer distances,” said Dalgety, whose proud parents Cran and Chrissie train Republican Party but of course also Beside Me, their “what if” horse for the night.
It was Republican Party’s 20th win in 54 starts and you could make a case he has been our best open class pacer over the last six months when you consider his Auckland and Invercargill Cup wins and close Hunter Cup third.
So after the Cullens got the best of the Dalgetys in the first Group 1 they levelled the score at 1-1 in the Messenger and in between the pair came the performance of the night.
That was undoubtedly Marketplace who as tough, fast and strong when obliterating the national 2700m three-year-old 2700m record in the Derby.
He was asked to use his ace draw by Craig Ferguson and when he refused to relent to Got The Chocolates the latter couldn’t manufacture enough room to slot into the trail so had to sit parked and keep Marketplace running.
Run he did and when Got The Chocolates started to drop off Ferguson took his chance and was gone, Marketplace willing as he charged clear for clearly his best performance of 2025.
“It was really satisfying to see him lead and do that tonight,” said trainer Regan Todd.
“If you keep handing up you will keep getting attacked so tonight will have earned him some more respect so I was thrilled with Craig’s drive and how the horse went.”
Marketplace will fly home to Canterbury on Sunday and prepare for his last major of this campaign in the Sires’ Stakes Final at Addington on May 16, with a lead up run the Friday before.
He is a very, very good horse and his time and body of work in G1 races suggests he may be the brightest light on our slightly dulled pacing horizon.
But, like the other Group 1 winning trainers on the night, Todd had his “what if” moment in the Messenger, when it was Mo’unga storming late at Republican Party.
“We almost got two Group 1s for the night,” he laughed.
“But he might get his best chance in the Roy Purdon next week when he should get a start over the big name horses,” added Todd.
It was the story of the night. Five sets of trainers got the Group 1s they crave but a few of them went home thinking had things been different they could have got another.