Echoes of his Melbourne Cup-winning dad rang in Taylor Marshall’s ears as he walked out of the jockeys’ room for his moment of destiny on Spicy Martini in the Stradbroke on Saturday.
The 33-year-old knew what had to be done, but it was a couple of words from his valet Chris Barrett that calmed the nerves and sharpened the focus.
“He just said: just ride it like the 10,000 and you will be right,” Marshall remembered.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t know that, but it was like dad was saying it to me.
“It was perfect, what Uncle Chris said.”
Barrett, who rode alongside John Marshall and was his brother-in-law, looks after champion hoops James McDonald and Tommy Berry most racedays.
So, Group 1 racing is nothing knew to Barrett but this was special, one of his most special.
“Jmac won the JJ [Atkins] the race before for the [Australian] record and I was so happy for him, but it couldn’t match Taylor winning that race,” Barrett said.
“He is blood, it is a completely different feeling to any other Group 1.
“I always stay with him the night before the races when I go to Brisbane and I was so impressed by him on Friday.
“John would have been so proud.
“I do his saddles when I’m there and I did Spicy Martini before Jmac’s and Tommy’s for the Stradbroke.”
Barrett was waiting when Marshall returned after a perfect ride to take his first Group 1 and Queensland’s most prized race, which his father won twice.
SPICY MARTINI AND TAYLOR MARSHALL DO IT FOR QUEENSLAND 😍
An emotion charged victory in the Stradbroke as Taylor Marshall gets his first Group 1 in Queensland’s greatest race! A second Stradbroke for Toby Edmonds 👏@edmondsracing pic.twitter.com/T6WPMmdPrd
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) June 13, 2026
“Everyone asks you about dad, but when I saw uncle Chris it really hit home,” Marshall said. “We are a very tight-knit family, we always had Christmases together and to have him there made it better.
“Dad and I were very close, and so were Chris and dad, so he knows what to say.
“His son Josh is my manager, so we were able to celebrate together on Saturday night.
“It is weird because dad was [Barrett’s] first client and now he was there for my first Group 1.
“It was just great.”
The Stradbroke took Marshall’s record to three wins and a second in the Doomben 10,000 on Spicy Martini, which is now in line for a slot in The Everest.
“I hope she gets in because Taylor deserves it and it would be great to see him in Sydney,” Barrett said.
