MASTER MARKO'S MEASURED RUN CARRIES THE DAY

By Graham Potter | Friday, August 26, 2022

The Kelvin Tyler trained Master Marko’s came into a Class 3 Plate over 1700m at the Gold Coast on August 26 with enough credentials to gain a good measure of support which saw him start as a $4.40 second favourite.

Jasmine Cornish had ridden the son of Contributer in his previous three starts, claiming two third places (at the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast) with the gelding also putting in a positive performance in town when unplaced, but only a touch over two lengths behind the winner.

Master Marko came back in distance here, from the 2060m of that run at Doomben to 1700m.

Cornish pushed Master Marko out early to gain a position on the speed after jumping from a wide draw, and the four-year-old settled second in the early part, taking a sit just over a length off the $101 rank outsider He’s Viral, who carted the field down the back stretch.

Approaching the 1000m mark, another outsider, the $61 chance Jimmy The Tulip, who had been held wide, began to sweep past on the outside of Master Marko, but Cornish immediately responded to that move asking Master Marko to quicken himself to prevent Jimmy The Tulip from crossing the Tyler trained runner.

That response momentarily put Master Marko in a line of three horses contesting the lead, and that’s when Cornish elected to continue to push forward, edging into the lead, but doing so in a measured fashion, which allowed Master Marko in stay in his comfort zone in spite of the fact that the bulk of the field was in very close attendance by the time Master Marko brought the field to the home turn.

The kick from Master Marko, that Cornish would have been hoping for, was there on straightening … and it needed to be as Jimmy The Tulip (who was ever present), the $2.15 favourite Derani and the $10 chance Outback Gladiator (who had both found their way through the traffic, running on from from behind) where all snapping at Master Marko’s heels over the concluding stages.

In the end though, Master Marko still had 0.20 lengths to spare at the line, enough to bank his second career victory in his sixteenth start.

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