Widely regarded as a master of his trade, a top-class horseman and an astute judge of young horses, Vaughan Marshall has won most of the country’s big races in his 42 years as a licensed trainer.
He guided breed-shaper Captain Al in a 17-start career that yielded 10 wins which included the stallion-making Grade 1 Cape Guineas before the son of Al Mufti enjoyed a successful second career at stud which saw him crowned Champion Sire of the 2014-15 season and cement his status as a South African legend!
Marshall is renowned for being a prolific trainer of two-year-olds, with Captain Al (Champion 2YO Sire eight times) a long-serving source of most of his stable’s juvenile talent – colt Always In Charge (2016 Gold Medallion); and daughters The Secret Is Out (2016 Alan Robertson) and All Is Secret (2012 Alan Robertson and Thekwini Stakes) are just a few two-year-old Grade 1 winners trained by Marshall, who also saddled sons of Captain Al – Hill Fifty Four (2014) and One World (2020) – to victory in the Grade 1 Cape Town (then J&B) Met.
The latter, a stable star during his Milnerton days, has made an impressive start to his career in the breeding sheds at Drakenstein Stud, quickly setting out to fill the void left by his sire’s passing in 2017.
On the 10-race card at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday 23 November, Marsahall-trained runners are likely to win three of the four feature races on the card – two with sons of One World.
Exciting One Stripe is his sire’s leading performer. He won two Grade 3 sprints – over 1100m and over 1200m – during a promising juvenile season. However, the strapping colt is bred to be even more effective as he goes over ground (further), being out of a Silvano mare who won from 2200m up to 2450m, a distance over which she won the Listed Spook Express.
One Stripe finished second, beaten a length, on his seasonal reappearance at Hollywoodbets Durbanville six weeks ago, though lost little in defeat to well-weighted older rival Snow Pilot to whom he conceded 1kg.
The latter subsequently franked that form with a six-length demolition job over 1400m at Kenilworth last weekend.
Marshall’s charge would’ve benefitted from that encouraging comeback run which will stand him in good stead when he reverts to taking on his contemporaries in Saturday’s 1600m Grade 2 Cape Punters Cup (Race 7), a traditional key pointer to next month’s Grade 1 Cape Guineas.
As the highest-rated runner in a level-weights contest, One Stripe is favourably treated by the conditions and need only run to his current mark to resume winning ways. However, with the cobwebs blown away and the likelihood of improvement over the extra 200m, One Stripe could prove better than his rating of 112 and is good value to land the spoils under Gavin Lerena in the fourth of the day’s features.
Like One Stripe, three-year-old stablemate Lion Rampart is weighted to win the 1200m Listed Sophomore Sprint (Race 4). This One World colt finished fourth over 1000m in his summer pipe-opener behind re-opposing rivals Roman Agent (second) and Miss World (third), with just 0.30 lengths separating the trio in that 2 November meeting.
KZN-based jockey Sean Veale stepped in for regular rider Richard Fourie on that occasion but the latter is back in the irons aboard Marshall’s speedster who is weighted to reverse the form and recapture the winning thread.
Lion Rampart is 2kg better off with Roman Agent and enjoys a 2.5kg swing in the weights with Miss World so, on paper, he should comfortably turn the tables on those rivals.
In Race 5, the Non-Black Type Bantry Bay Stakes over 1100m, Marshall-trained Questioning should have an answer for whatever threat his rivals pose in a hotly contested 16-horse sprint. This thriving Querari gelding is at the top of his game and has forged a potent partnership with JP van der Merwe under whom he has won both starts this season, including the 1400m Grade 3 Matchem Stakes under 61.5kg at Durbanville’s country course on 28 September.
Questioning copped a two-point penalty for that career-best performance but that’s unlikely to halt his momentum or put an end to his winning streak.
As is the case with both One Stripe and Lion Rampart, Questioning sets the standard as the highest-rated runner in the lineup and is, given the conditions of the race, weighted to win.
The Non-Black Type Summer Bowl (Race 6) over 1600m features familiar foes Rascova, Double Grand Slam and Red Palace who clashed at the highest level during their three-year-old campaigns last season.
They renew rivalry at level weights under 62kg against older opposition but will likely fight out the finish. TAB’s Swinger, Exacta and Trifecta bets with this trio should yield a profit.
Clive Robinson
