SPICY MARTINI POSTS A STRADBROKE WARNING

By Graham Potter | Monday, May 18, 2026

While the Double R Brand … Rpthfire and Rawiller … justifiably dominated the racing news cycle with a flood of post-race commentary following their win in the Doomben 10 000, the storming run of the second placed Spicy Martini hardly raised a trickle of news in racing columns.

The old adage that ‘nobody remembers who comes second’ might certainly be true in the long-term but that doesn’t mean the expertise of trainer Toby Edmonds in turning Spicy Martini out to perfection … the outstanding, faultless ride of Taylor Marshall … and the display of real talent by Spicy Martini herself should not receive every credit for a top-tier level performance.

And it will be all systems go for Spicy Martini from here, as confirmed by Edmonds.

“She pulled up great … super actually … so, she’ll go to the Stradbroke now,” stated Edmonds. “Taylor (Marshall) will stay on her … she won’t get much weight, but he can ride that.”

“She is normally right in for the fight. In the 10 000, from where I was watching, I wasn’t quite sure if she got to the front, but it appears she did … and she probably got a little bit lost until she shifted out and saw some company with those other two (Rothfire and Napoleonic) coming down the middle of the track.

"They made it a little bit more competitive, and she fought the eventual third place-getter off after it (Napoleonic) looked like it was going to run second.

“Yeah, so she is very competitive … very honest … and is going well.

“She is a nice filly. She’s got a nice pedigree (Justify – Extra Olives), so in those big races they should stand up.”

Spicy Martini record now shows five wins from eleven starts. Three of those wins came in Listed company … in the Mode Plate, the Mick Dittman and recently in the Ascot Handicap … and an important result was the win in last year’s Group 3 Fred Best Classic, which earned Spicy Martini a ‘Golden Ticket’ into the Group 1 Stradbroke.

In that 2025 running of the Stradbroke, a race won by War Machine, Spicy Martini finished well down the field, but Edmonds feels that result in no way represented the true ability of the daughter of Justify and that, essentially, a line should be drawn through that run.

“In the Stradbroke, she was fattened and nearly knocked over the fence,” said Edmonds.

“There are not many races in which she hasn’t actually put in.

“She wasn’t at her best when I took her to Sydney (for the Group 2 Sheraco and the Group 3 Silver Eagle) … so that’s two runs when she wasn’t at her best … but, certainly, most of the rest of her career has been pretty darn good."

Like she was in the Doomben 10 000.

If she gets a fair shake in the Stradbroke this time, Spicey Martini could again make her presence felt in a big race.
Certainly, she posted a warning with her run in the Doomben 10 000 and jockey Taylor Marshall never hesitated in given the Edmonds trained mare his full vote of confidence.

“She's up to this Group 1 level,” said Marshall.

“I think it's only a matter of time before she wins one."

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