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Scone trainer Paul Messara is out to grab his third win of 2013 this afternoon when he saddles up Ergo at Muswellbrook.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The Choisir three-year-old will contest the Subzero Group Benchmark 60 Handicap (1450m), following a dominant win at his home track in tougher grade last start.
Second-up from a spell, Ergo tracked the early leaders to the turn over 1300m, burst into the clear 300m from home and pulled away from them in the final furlong finishing two lengths ahead.
The run earned a weight-adjusted Timeform rating of 80 and the form out of that race has proved pretty solid with runner-up I Love Legs subsequently coming out and winning at Gilgandra.
Ergo carries an extra 2.5kg today but is back in grade so the 56.5kg shouldn’t be an issue.
He’s untried beyond 1300m but finished off last start with authority and should lap up the extra ground today.
Don’t be surprised if he gets even further, perhaps up to a mile later this campaign.
Jockey Mitchell Bell stays aboard and looks set to orchestrate his third win in four rides aboard this gelding.
The scratching of Glenn Moore’s enduring eight-year-old Swindle makes this an even more appealing race for Messara’s emerging star.
Despite the drop in grade though, this certainly isn’t a done deal.
Slumdogmillionaire is another one dropping back in grade and should be super fit in his fourth run back from a break.
He finished within three lengths of them at Kembla Grange in Benchmark 60 grade 12 days ago and won his only other start at this track.
That Kembla run netted a weight-adjusted Timeform rating of 70.
The Adam Duggan four-year-old is also untried over this trip but he’s been finding the line reasonably well of late and should be well in the mix.
Murphy’s Royal and Mount Earnslaw also look to be in the mix today.
Murphy’s Royal has come back in reasonable order finishing fourth in both runs back from a break while Mount Earnslaw was only 1.3L off in provincial grade last start and can be bold.