Stormy Marco excels in 2026 Clarendon Stakes debut at Hawkesbury

Stormy Marco notched a remarkable initial outing, topping a trifecta for Chris Waller’s yard as popular pick Tenenbaum faltered badly in the Clarendon Stakes (1400m) at Hawkesbury on Saturday.

As the standard curtain-raiser for the Hawkesbury standalone day, the two-year-old race is a common stepping stone for Waller’s developing juveniles en route to the Brisbane winter carnival.

That progression seems on the cards for Stormy Marco and Nations League after their thrilling showdown.

Waller’s $21 longshot Stormy Marco outran his two stablemates, finishing with vigour via Sam Clipperton to take the prize by a half-length margin from Nations League ($7.50), followed two lengths later by Fondness ($8.50).

Tenenbaum, the $1.22 top-rated contender, had all favours in transit but dropped away to fourth, holding off only Grafology.

Waller stayed away from trackside at Hawkesbury, but assistant Charlie Duckworth shared that Stormy Marco and Nations League are probable for the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm next month.

“Stormy Marco was in the trials on Monday but when this race fell away and became a field of five, we felt he should be running,” Duckworth said.

“He’s by Wootton Bassett, a sire who is flying at the moment, and we felt the colt trialled well enough and had the education to go to the races.

“The 1400m was a better option for him than going to Gosford next week (1200m).

“As it turned out, he did everything right today and was strong late.

Clipperton, who tracked patiently, voiced admiration for Stormy Marco’s debut triumph.

“He’s a quiet-natured horse and will only improve off that,” Clipperton said. “He has kicked off his career in good style today.”

There was much to like in the runs of beaten pair Nations League and Fondness, per Duckworth.

“Nations League had to dig deep and was strong to the line but he might have been beaten by a good one,” he said.

“Fondness did well jumping from 1100m to 1400m which is never easy.”

Promising colt The Roaring Sun was withdrawn by Waller from the Clarendon that morning, though Duckworth expects the youngster at Gosford standalone or the Ken Russell Memorial Classic at Gold Coast next Saturday.

Stablemate St Gotthard, still unbeaten, trialled at Canterbury last Friday and is eyed for Gosford or Gold Coast next week.

For the Group 1 $1 million JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm on June 13, current TAB Fixed Odds have The Roaring Sun second at $7, St Gotthard $11, Nations League $26, behind leader Blind Raise at $4.50 from Melbourne.

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