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An inside draw could be the key to an overdue change of fortune for Group One winner Marky Mark at Pukekohe on Saturday.
Marky Mark has won twice since taking the 2015 Gr.1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni, but in several of his subsequent starts he has been unlucky, as was the case in both his starts last autumn.
He lost his rider in the Gr.2 Windsor Park Japan NZ International Trophy (1600m) at Tauranga then copped a check when unplaced at Te Rapa the following month. And again fresh-up at Ellerslie earlier this month luck didn’t go his way.
“He drew wide at Ellerslie and was trapped out and had to work too hard,” co-trainer Moira Murdoch said. “It was just too tough for him.
“He’s only a little horse and because of that he gets knocked around a lot in his races, but he tries.”
Marky Mark has drawn the ace in the Fasttrack Insurance 1400 on Saturday and Murdoch is hoping that barrier will enable him to get a softer run and be saved up for his best work at the finish.