Celebrating his 28th birthday, jockey Liam Riordan enjoyed a special moment by steering Marble Nine to a convincing victory in the Funky Farm Sprint (1100m) at Flemington.
Trained by Leon and Troy Corstens along with Will Larkin, Marble Nine is now set to contest the Listed Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final (1200m) on July 5.
The gelding was dropping back in distance after winning over 1200m at the same track earlier in the month. Sent out at $8, Marble Nine surged clear for a 1-½ length win over favourite Cleo Cat ($2), with Midwest ($13) running third.
“Liam is one of the hardest working kids out there,” said co-trainer Troy Corstens.
“He was apprenticed to us and I’ve got a real soft spot for him. He doesn’t get a lot of opportunities, but he’s going really well at the moment.
“It’s nice to give him a birthday present for yesterday and you wouldn’t take him off now, but in fairness, Hannah (Edgley) would have stayed on had it been a claiming race.
“She had done nothing wrong, but it wasn’t and it’s hard to justify putting a claimer on.”
Marble Nine followed in the footsteps of The Astrologist, who won the same race four years ago before also claiming the sprint final.
“We were a little worried about dropping him back to 1100 metres thinking the 1200 might be better for him,” Corstens added.
“I said to the guys, it was either this or give him a trial, and I said we might as well go around for the prize money and see what we can do.”
Last spring, Marble Nine was tested against strong opposition including Recommendation and has matured significantly since.
“He’s grown up now and has done a good job,” Corstens said.
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