Hastings trainer John Bary says wide barrier draws are like flea bites: if you don't like them you can scratch.
But the wide draw his stable star Callsign Mav has in the $200,000 BCD Sprint at Te Rapa on Saturday might be like a flea bite in another way, becauseit could end up being bloody annoying.
The four-year-old is the key rival to superstar mares Avantage and Levante in the much-anticipated sprint and has already proven in the Tarzino Trophy this season he has what it takes to beat Avantage in a Group 1 over 1400m.
He has been the third favourite all along for the race but his hopes of upsetting the mares may have taken a dip when he drew barrier 10, albeit still giving him the chance to settle in front of them both.
Bary says since there is nothing he can do about the draw so he isn't going to worry about it.
"With him it isn't that bad because he is such a long striding horse, so I'd rather be out wide than down on the inner where he might get jammed up," he told the Herald.
"So he will work forward from out there but whether that is up outside the leader or taking a sit close to the speed might depend on what a few inside him will do.
"But that ultimately will be [jockey] Jonathan [Riddell]'s decision."
Riddell and Bary have been working on a longer-term plan aimed at getting Callsign Mav to settle with the hopes of him extending out to 2000m next season. He was ridden cold last start, beating a significantly easier field carrying 63kg.
But there would seem no point trying to outsprint the mares at the Hamilton track so he looks certain to roll forward and then early luck and tempo come into play.
Bary is adamant Callsign Mav is a better horse now than when he won the Tarzino, an effort he has proved was no fluke in all three starts since, including finishing only a long neck behind Melody Belle and Avantage in the 1600m Windsor Park Plate.
Put four or five rivals between Callsign Mav and the mares starting the last 600m and he can upset them but the draw could make finding that advantage difficult.
