By MIKE DILLON
Mark Walker seems to have backed off preferring Maroofity over King's Chapel in tomorrow's group-one Ellerslie Sires Produce Stakes.
Now, he can see very little between them.
The first shift came when the trainer assumed the Ellerslie track would be soft.
The second was when he reasoned that Maroofity might
not be as inconvenienced as he first thought.
"I looked back at the form and when he won the Welcome Stakes at Riccarton the track was easy and they downgraded the conditions to soft for the next race.
"So it's obvious he can handle at least some level of rain-affected footing.
"And the way he galloped this morning on a soft track suggests he's not going to have a problem if the track is affected on Saturday."
Walker believes Maroofity has been the stable's unlucky runner in twice finishing behind King's Chapel in recent starts.
The last time he was less than two lengths behind in the $500,000 Mercedes Classique at Te Rapa. King's Chapel led in that race and Maroofity finished fast from well back on the home turn.
The interesting runner is Cambridge colt Alastro, who finished a luckless third in the A$500,000 ($538,000) Inglis Premier in Melbourne on February 9.
"Damien Oliver came back in and said he was clipping heels all the way down the home straight," said trainer Tony Pike.
"Nine times out of ten, a run would present itself, but on this occasion it didn't."
Pike had intended taking Alastro back to Melbourne for the A$400,000 Sires Produce in Melbourne on March 10, but the colt has done so well since returning home that he has left Pike with no alternative to giving him a race.
"I'm not greatly worried about the prospect of a rain-affected track," he said.
"He's trialled up well on soft footing and seems to work okay in the soft."
Sarah Vee made a huge impression in her winning debut at Ellerslie on February 6. She does not have anything like the experience of King's Chapel and Maroofity to call on, but like her stablemate Katana, who won the Matamata Breeders Stakes two weeks ago with a similar lack of experience, she has substance.
Provided the track rates up reasonably well, her No 1 barrier should be an advantage. On a soft track the inside could prove a disadvantage.
