Argyle sits parked in the running fresh-up at Albion Park last Saturday night.
Look for better run from green Argyle on Saturday night with can’t-see-back blinds
By Barry Lichter • 24 March 2023
Trainer Mark Dux will be surprised if Argyle doesn’t run a good race at Albion Park on Saturday night, calling his first-up run “inconclusive.”
Argyle, having his first race for more than four months last Saturday, did plenty of work three wide to the death, before dropping out to run last.
But Dux points to two factors that muddy the result, the horse’s greenness and the fact he went to the line on another horse’s back, unable to get clear.
“At the finish he had nowhere to go and couldn’t be tested so it was an inconclusive run. I’m sure he had something to offer.”
But Dux said it was more the horse’s inexperience that told against him.
“He didn’t seem to know what to do. He continually switched on and off.”
Right from the start, Argyle made it difficult for driver Nathan Dawson.
“He wanted to run the gate, and then he didn’t, and when Nathan went to pull back he grabbed the bit again.
“And when he let him go down the back he dropped the bit and raced greenly. If he’d held his position outside the leader down the back he might have been OK but when he let the other one go, the horse switched off.
“He’s done that with me at home too. Some days you can’t get him going, but when he’s switched on he’s good.”
Argyle … hot and cold.Given Argyle can run a little hot and cold, Dux will try him in “can’t-see-back” blinds on Saturday night to make him concentrate more.
“He can pull so I don’t want to close him up too much.”
Though Argyle is the highest rated horse in the field on R74, Dux said he’s a beginner compared with most of his rivals.
With just 17 starts under his belt, he is easily the most lightly raced and seven of his rivals have won more races than him, having slid up and down the grades.
Argyle hasn’t had that luxury of dropping many points, having jumped quickly in class and finishing in the top five in nine of his starts.
With three wins at Cambridge and one at Auckland between last April and August, Argyle rose from R45 to R60. And when he won a rating 67 to 75 race first-up at Melton in September, he jumped into a grade populated by battle-hardened runners.
“But I still think he’ll race well on Saturday,” Dux said. “I’m pleased with him and I rate him a top four or five chance for sure.
“Obviously from three on the second row we’ll have to come from the back, drive him quietly and follow them, but so long as they don’t walk, I think he’ll be thereabouts.”
Argyle, who has earned A$50,559, is raced by John and Lynne Street, David Turner, Barry and Marie Jones and the Friday Frenzy Racing syndciate comprising Ian Middleton, Peter Jeffares, Bernie McCahill, Mike Ledger and Rob Redwood.
Argyle races at 9.10pm NZ time at Albion Park on Saturday night.
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Ray’s comments
Friday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Spirited Belle
4.46pm
Delany: “I saw she’d been punted but somebody must know something we don’t as I’ve been working her myself and, while she feels all right and hasn’t put the boot in like at Auckland, I think she’ll need the run. She hasn’t got any high speed but feels like she will stay. She has improved a bit but I’d be surprised if she won.”
Race 1: Lincoln Maree
4.46pm
“It’s always hard from these draws but she’s a tough mare who will make her own luck at some stage. She’s going well enough - her drivers have all been happy - and she’s a little warrior who tries like hell.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.12pm
“He’s only two and very inexperienced but he feels like a good colt and there’s a lot of improvement in him. He certainly caught a lot of people’s attention last time. I don’t know how good he is yet but he’ll be right there.”
Race 2: Prince Lincoln
5.12pm
“If he can lead without having to do too much work I can’t see anything beating him. I thought he went great last start. He pressed the winner hard ’til the corner then just flattened out in the run home, but he had every reason to do that after all the work he’d done.”
Race 4: Spirit Of God
6.12pm
“She’s been undone by bad draws. If she led easily from three she’d be hard to beat as she’s a good front-runner.”
Race 4: Spirited Peggy
6.12pm
“We’ve had her for only two weeks but she’s seven now and has had her chance to win one. She has a bit of speed but I think she gets pulling so we’ve got the Hidez (compression) hood on her and plugged her ears up.”
Race 6: Copy N Paste
7.10pm
“We won’t see the best of him for another six months. He’s been a slow developing horse but is improving all the time and getting stronger.”
Race 6: Jessie Lincoln
7.10pm
“If I was having a bet on one of them in the race it would be her. She deserves to win one. Her last two have been really good - she just ran into one who was a bit slicker last time in Major Copy.”
Race 6: Lincoln Dealer
7.10pm
“He’s a bit one-dimensional - you’ve got to feed him track and let him run - so the second row draw is a big handicap. To his credit I was surprised he finished so close last time after all the work he did. When he gets a decent draw and crosses them they’ll know they’re at the races. He’s got a big motor and tries hard.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.08pm
“She clawed her way to the front last time but had nothing left at the finish. That won’t happen this time and she should lead easily from one.”
Race 8: Angelic Copy
8.08pm
“She’s had terrible draws but has been going good races. The others last time were just better than her but this is a big drop in class. With the right trip she could get some of it at huge odds.”
Race 9: Sugar Ray Lincoln
8.35pm
“He’s not quick away from a stand but he won’t muff it completely. He steps from the front line and Peter Ferguson was quite happy with his last run.”
Race 9: Lincoln Wave
8.35pm
“He bombed the stand the first time but to be fair all those horses were rushing up at him from the back and that panicked him a bit. He’s on 10 metres this time so that won’t happen.”
