Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}–Marlinka {GB}, by Marju {Ire}), a two-time Group 1-winning sprinter who later set a record price for a Thoroughbred sold at public auction in Europe, has passed away aged 10, according to multiple reports.
Bred and raced by the Elite Racing Club and trained by Sir Mark Prescott, Marsha made the first nine starts of her career at eight different venues across England and Ireland, winning listed events at Ayr and York in the summer of 2016 before venturing beyond the borders of the United Kingdom for the first time. She made the final two starts of her 3-year-old season at Chantilly, finishing runner-up in the G3 Prix du Petit Couvert before causing a 23-1 boilover in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye.
Never out of the top three in her first six appearances as a 4-year-old in 2017, Marsha won the G3 Palace House S. on seasonal debut ahead of a third-place effort to Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) when favoured in the G1 King's Stand S. at the Royal meeting. Placed in the G2 Sapphire S. at the Curragh and in the G2 Qatar S. at Goodwood, she reversed form with Lady Aurelia in the G1 Nunthorpe S. prior to a runner-up effort to Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the Abbaye. She was unplaced in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and retired with a record of 10-5-2-2 for earnings of $496,881.
Marsha proved the star turn at the 2017 Tattersalls December Mare Sale, hammering to M.V. Magnier for 6 million guineas (nearly $8.5 million), a record price for a horse sold at auction in Europe. Her first foal, the 3-year-old filly Tender Kiss (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was well-beaten on Leopardstown debut this past April and her two most recent foals are by Frankel (GB)–a yearling filly and a colt foal.
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