Well-weighted southerners chasing Metric Mile

Kelvin Tyler will have two competitive lightweight hopes in Saturday’s Gr.3 Hunterville Vet Club Metric Mile (1600m), with talented pair Master Marko and Lightning Jack set for the Wanganui feature.

Based in the deep south at Riverton, Tyler is a regular visitor in the North Island to campaign his horses, with Master Marko making his first journey since returning from Australia in June.

A winner of four races in Queensland, Master Marko has been in sizzling form this campaign, winning three of his five starts, including back-to-back successes in Saturday fields at Riccarton Park.

Leaving his horses in the care of Howie and Lorraine Mathews at Otaki, Tyler was thrilled to see them in prime condition when he arrived on Tuesday.

“I arrived up to Otaki and all the horses are looking outstanding,” Tyler said.

“Master Marko is going pretty well and I can’t fault him, he had a nice gallop on the course proper here and I think he’s as good as we can get him.

“He seems to like to go forward, I don’t know whether drawing one will be good or bad though. He drew that in the Winter Cup (Gr.3, 1600m) and got bogged down a bit there, but this is a smaller field than that race.

“The forecast doesn’t look flash so I’m picking the rail will be off, so we’re just going to have to come up with a plan to get him out of there somehow.”

Joining the son of Contributer will be Tyler’s well-performed miler Lightning Jack, a winner of nine races who placed in the 2023 Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m).

Often tasked with the top-weight, Lightning Jack will have a luxury 54kg to carry under Kavish Chowdhoory, half a kilogram more than his stablemate, who will be ridden by Leah Hemi.

The Per Incanto gelding kicked off his North Island preparation with a ninth-place finish behind Hi Yo Sass Bomb three weeks’ ago at Wanganui, a performance Tyler is happy to look past.

“He’s coming along really well, in his first-up run he drew one and that was just no good for him, he likes to get off the rail, so he was just bogged down in there,” Tyler said.

“If he could get out and around them, he would’ve been a lot better I believe, but I can’t fault him since then and he’s galloped really well yesterday.

“The loose track should help him and coming in with no weight is a real royalty for him.

“I don’t mind having a go up here, it’s good prizemoney and better options. They are very happy horses at the moment, so hopefully we can pick up some crumbs.”

On Sunday, Tyler had intended to prepare a team of horses for the meeting at Gore, but after its rescheduling to Oamaru, he will have a sole representative in Albatross contesting the Thomas Green (1600m).

Albatross will reunite with apprentice jockey Denby-Rose Tait, who rode her to success at Wingatui in a similar race a fortnight ago.

“She’s doing really well and back at the mile, it should hopefully be wet enough for her up there,” Tyler said.

“It’s a bit of a shame that these races have gone from an hour away to five hours away for us, so I had to take a few other ones out as just logistically, it’s tricky to get up there with me in the North Island.

“Fortunately, she’s got a ride up there and her work has been outstanding, it seems like she’s coming into it quite nicely.

“She’s a conditioned and fit horse, so she’ll go another good race.”

Photo: Race Images South