Marckie's Water has another weekend to remember

ARCADIA, Calif. – Memorial Day weekend at Santa Anita has been kind to Marckie’s Water in two of the last three years.

On Memorial Day in 2017, Marckie’s Water won his first stakes in the $201,035 Snow Chief Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds. Last Saturday, Marckie’s Water won his first graded stakes in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf, a feat trainer Richard Baltas once doubted was possible.

“I didn’t think he’d win a graded stakes,” Baltas said Monday.

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The win has prompted plans to run him at Del Mar in two Grade 2 races worth $250,000 – the Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on July 21, and the Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on Aug. 17. The winner of the Del Mar Handicap receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

Baltas said the timing between the Whittingham and Read works in favor of Marckie’s Water, a 5-year-old horse owned by Norman Tavares and the Little Red Feather Racing partnership.

“It’s eight weeks away and we have time to relax,” Baltas said. “He’s getting better and better.”

In the $200,702 Whittingham Stakes, Marckie’s Water closed from last of seven in the final furlong to win by three-quarters of a length as the 2-1 second choice.

“He seemed to finish better than I thought he did,” Baltas said. “Maybe he can move forward off of that.”