Machete Mark

Machete Mark ran a cracker to finish as close as he did in the Premier Handicap run over seven furlongs at Leopardstown last Thursday. The Ger Lyons-trained gelding was the only horse who raced in the first five or six early on who was involved at the finish. All the others who had been prominent faded out of it, and it wasn’t as if they were all outsiders, with prominent racers Northern Rocked, Maundy Money and Rock Critic all towards the top of the market. The winner, Tobann, came from a long way back, as did the fourth and fifth who finished right behind the placed horses. On top of that, Machete Mark’s optimum is probably a mile, he was probably racing here over a trip that was short of his best. Also, the ground was probably a little slower than ideal, he seems to appreciate fast ground.

The Indian Haven’s gelding had run a cracker in the Britannia at Royal Ascot in June, a race that keeps getting stronger as time goes on, and he had again run a huge race back at Ascot on his final run before Thursday when he finished second to Yeager, a horse who was thought good enough to take his chance in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington on his next run, in which he may well have been involved but for being hampered at a key stage.

This was just Machete Mark’s seventh race, he should continue to progress, and he will be interesting back at a mile now, and back on faster ground. He has won on Polytrack at Dundalk, and he obviously goes well at Ascot, so he would be interesting if he does return there for a big mile handicap on the straight track. There should be opportunities for him at Dundalk over the coming months too. More immediately, he is entered at York on Friday and, back up at a mile on ground that is likely to be fast, he will come into calculations.

15th August 2013