‘She has gone from $8000 to a million dollar mare’

When you see Spicy Martini’s legs, they are more of a Picasso than a beautiful Monet, and that’s why Toby Edmonds only had to part with $8000 for the Justify filly, but as in art, different packages can deliver windfalls and Spicy Martini has $500,000 in the bank and building as she heads to Sydney for the spring.

“She just has awful-looking pegs,” Edmonds said. “They take a bit of work. You couldn’t have bought her if you looked at X-rays, that’s why she was online. I bought I Am Invincible without x-rays, he worked out all right. If she was perfect we would not have got her. Now, she has gone from $8000 to a million dollar mare with more to come.”

Spicy Martini never graced a yearling sale ring. Coolmore pushed her through an online sale as a yearling with a big pedigree, being out of Redoute’s Choice mare Extra Olives.

The purchase price was returned from a maiden win at Eagle Farm as a two-year-old before a Listed win in the Mode Stakes.

She took her record to four wins from seven starts in the winter taking out further black type in the Mick Dittman Stakes and the Fred Best Classic at Group 3 level.

“She has kept stepping up, and we are coming down to find where it might finish,” Edmonds said. “She has always run well except in the Stradbroke, where she was checked out of the gates and nearly went through the fence, and she kept coming. We know we are going to take on some really good ones down there but we know how good she is and want to test her.”

Spicy Martini starts her campaign in the Sheraco Stakes against star mare Joliestar and Edmonds will be guided by the performance.

Her $23 quote might be a bit of value against a classy group of mares including Stradbroke and Doncaster winner Stefi Magnetica and Robert Sangster Stakes runner-up Ameena.

“She is taking on a proper Everest horse and a few others but there is so much prizemoney down there and we are hoping to find the right race for her,” Edmonds said. “I think she will be better over 1400m and a mile, so The Invitation is worth $2 million and maybe the Golden Eagle could be there for her.”

“This will tell us if we are dreaming in some ways.”