Purdon pair to push on

Defeat is not something Mark Purdon has to deal with a whole lot, but the master horseman has taken a lean night by his high standards at Gloucester Park in his stride.

Ultimate Machete was his stable’s only success on the opening night of the Inter-dominion Series, but not even the defeat of the mighty Lazarus was enough to leave Purdon disappointed.

‘‘Have Faith In Me aside, I was very happy with them,’’ he said on Monday from Perth.

Lazarus running second to the brilliant Soho Tribeca might have seemed a little disappointing to some, but the New Zealand Cup winner has come through the race with flying colours.

He, along with Have Faith In Me will head to the second night of the Inter Dominion Series on Tuesday night at Bunbury.

But, again, they have both been slightly tempered by bad barrier draws. Lazarus will start from six while Have Faith In Me starts from barrier ten.

‘‘I thought Laz went about as good as he could on Friday night considering we haven’t really been able to get the work into him since the Cup.

‘‘We are a week earlier this year too which has meant there hasn’t been quite as much time to adjust to being over here for them, but I’m starting to see that adjustment from them now.’’

Purdon’s is under no illusions that the second heat will be any easier than the first though, especially with Tiger Tara drawn inside him.

‘‘It looks like we will probably end up sitting parked outside Tiger Tara, which doesn’t worry me a whole lot. He’s come on from that first run really well and I was very happy with his work.’’

A placing tonight would go close to ensuring that Lazarus makes the A$1.1 million final on December 8 and for Purdon that’s the only goal at the moment.

While bullish about Lazarus, Purdon is worried about Have Faith In Me - who again continues to look like a mere shadow of his former, Miracle Milewinning self.

‘‘He was pretty poor on Friday I thought, when I asked him to go he only went for a very short time. I would hope we will see some improvement from him this week, but we would also need to.’’

Meanwhile, Piccadilly Princess has come through her run on Friday night superbly and Purdon was excited about getting her back to Gloucester Park this Friday night.

‘‘I thought her run was excellent. She was one of the only horses all night to make up as much ground as she did from that far back.’’

Ultimate Machete will be kept on ice this week and set for the $200,000 Golden Nugget on Friday, December 8 after his stunning win last week.