Richmond’s Grand Final sensation Marlion Pickett has been compared to a horse set to tackle his first elite level assignment this weekend.
Master Of Wine will complete a meteoric rise when he steps up to Group 1 class for the first time in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick, prompting owner Rupert Legh to compare the situation to that of Pickett who debuted in the 2019 AFL Grand Final.
“I was trying to think of a comparison,” Legh said on RSN.
“In the Grand Final last year when Damien Hardwick had to make a decision to bring in a young kid (Pickett) that was recruited mid-year when playing in the VFL to (then) be playing the Grand Final.
“A Grand Final is the Queen Elizabeth for this horse.
“To go from a Benchmark 78 or 80 to a Group 1 against these world-class older horses, if we can do what the young kid did in the Grand Final...
“Not only did he win a Grand Final but he was one of the better players so I'm hopeful we can do on Saturday what he did and perform at the level we know he can.”
The Team Hawkes-trained five-year-old gelding has won his last four starts on the way to the Queen Elizabeth including a dominant 3.5 length victory in Group 3 company at Rosehill on March 14.
Master Of Wine will be ridden by Tim Clark and has opened up a $9 chance with TAB.
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