Ryan Mark (centre)
Trish Dunell
John Morell is still scratching his head as to the reason for Ryan Mark's Gr.1 Telegraph failure but the Taupiri owner-trainer has found no fault in his Group One winner nor any reason not to tackle Saturday week's Gr.1 NRM Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa.
A winner of eight of his 16 starts, including last month's Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie, Ryan Mark ran the worst race of his career when he finished 14th of 18 runners in the Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham last start.
"I really don't know," Morell said when quizzed on the reason for the out-of-character performance.
"I don't whether the track was a bit shifty and he didn't like that. He had hit his head in the box before he went out but Michael [Coleman, jockey] said he went down to the start the best he had in ages.
"The other thing might have been that he didn't like all those horses around him. Whatever it was, he just didn't kick on."
Morell has taken Ryan Mark to Graeme Rogerson's waterwalker and galloped him at Cambridge and again at Te Rapa on Wednesday and has given the Thorn Park five-year-old the green light to press on to the weight-for-age NRM Sprint, in which a win could seal him champion sprinter honours for the season.
"He had a run-along here [at Te Rapa] yesterday and he'll gallop here with Stolen Dance on Saturday. Hopefully we can have him at his best but it will be a good field," Morell said.
Meanwhile, Morell has retired his Gr.2 Travis Stakes winner Lauren Tate after she was found to have strained her tendon following her second placing at Matamata last Saturday.
Lauren Tate won five of her 26 starts, including the 2014 Rockhampton Cup on promotion, while she was also second in last year's Gr.2 Travis Stakes at Te Rapa, third in the Gr.2 Japan-New Zealand International Trophy at Tauranga and ran Group One fourth placings in the Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa and the New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie.
"She won over $200,000 and was a terrific horse for us," said Morell, who raced Lauren Tate and bred her out of his Group One-placed mare Haylee Baylee.
"She'll go to a good sire in the spring, probably Tavistock or Savabeel because then if we happened to get a nice colt, we could sell him." - NZ Racing Desk.
A winner of eight of his 16 starts, including last month's Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie, Ryan Mark ran the worst race of his career when he finished 14th of 18 runners in the Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham last start.
"I really don't know," Morell said when quizzed on the reason for the out-of-character performance.
"I don't whether the track was a bit shifty and he didn't like that. He had hit his head in the box before he went out but Michael [Coleman, jockey] said he went down to the start the best he had in ages.
"The other thing might have been that he didn't like all those horses around him. Whatever it was, he just didn't kick on."
Morell has taken Ryan Mark to Graeme Rogerson's waterwalker and galloped him at Cambridge and again at Te Rapa on Wednesday and has given the Thorn Park five-year-old the green light to press on to the weight-for-age NRM Sprint, in which a win could seal him champion sprinter honours for the season.
"He had a run-along here [at Te Rapa] yesterday and he'll gallop here with Stolen Dance on Saturday. Hopefully we can have him at his best but it will be a good field," Morell said.
Meanwhile, Morell has retired his Gr.2 Travis Stakes winner Lauren Tate after she was found to have strained her tendon following her second placing at Matamata last Saturday.
Lauren Tate won five of her 26 starts, including the 2014 Rockhampton Cup on promotion, while she was also second in last year's Gr.2 Travis Stakes at Te Rapa, third in the Gr.2 Japan-New Zealand International Trophy at Tauranga and ran Group One fourth placings in the Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa and the New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie.
"She won over $200,000 and was a terrific horse for us," said Morell, who raced Lauren Tate and bred her out of his Group One-placed mare Haylee Baylee.
"She'll go to a good sire in the spring, probably Tavistock or Savabeel because then if we happened to get a nice colt, we could sell him." - NZ Racing Desk.