Talented Marble Nine chases another Flemington first

Marble Nine returns to Flemington on Saturday as he prepares for a more lucrative goal in the weeks ahead under the guidance of the Corstens and Larkin training combination.

The four-year-old is entered in The Funky Farm Sprint (1100m), which will serve as a key lead-up to the Listed Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final (1200m) at Flemington on July 5.

After an eye-catching run in the Listed Straight Six in May, Marble Nine bounced back with a convincing win at benchmark 84 level earlier this month—both performances coming on the Flemington straight course.

Trainer Will Larkin explained the slightly shorter trip this weekend is by design to keep the gelding in peak fitness.

“He’s going extremely well,” Larkin said.

“Ideally, we didn’t want to be stepping back to the 1100 metres from the 1200 (metres), but it was a suitable race to keep his fitness up to the mark for the final.

“He is going up in grade from an (benchmark) 84 to an open handicap, so it is a harder race, but he’s in good form and I’m sure he’s going to run well.”

With a strong record down the straight at Flemington, including a win and two minor placings, Marble Nine appears to be well placed for another solid showing.

“He’s just so honest and he’s got that racing style where he takes luck out of the equation and goes up on the speed and runs out a strong 1200 metres,” Larkin said.

“The 1100 metres is probably a bit on the sharp side, it is in between his range, but he is a winner at that trip at Caulfield, and he is a winner up the straight as well.

“He’s got the right racing style for straight racing. He sits up and then can build into it.”

Set to carry 55kg under jockey Liam Riordan, Marble Nine should be competitive despite rising in class.

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