It was a huge effort from the veteran galloper, knuckling down to fight back after being headed by Glenn Richardson’s Bel Seleva in the run home, that horse coming off 6 consecutive victories.
Kropp will now plan Marksfield’s assault on Eagle Farm come Tattersall’s Tiara day, with prior form in town suggesting he will be prominent in the market for the final.
Barring his limited success at the Eagle Farm track, the 8-year-old has in fact been placed at Doomben 6 times, winning there back on 11th of February 2017, making him just eligible for the Battle Of The Bush final.
With his 5 non-tabs starts in short succession, Marksfield will now freshen up before preparing for the final.
Trainer Glenn Richardson has also hinted that Bel Seleva has come to the end of her prep and despite fighting out the finish and will likely not go to any more qualifiers.
Both Al’s Briefs and Craiglea Pistol also had eye catching runs with the latter coming from a long way back to close off and be beaten less than 2 lengths, both stating claims for a spot in the final with strong form lines coming out of the Marksfield race.
It is a mammoth week coming up for connections with qualifiers heading to four locations across the state including Gordonvale, Longreach, Mount Isa and Warwick.