Bad draw no help

Brad Mowbray knew Delishka and Tiger Thompson would be drawing badly with a preferential draw for Sunday’s $30,000 Group 3 Airpark Canterbury Rangiora Classic, but the inside of the second line was the last place he wanted to be with Tiger Thompson.

Alta Orlando and Tiger Thompson loomed as the likely favourites but the latter’s fate is now uncertain following out his other stablemate Four Starzzz Shiraz.

‘‘If Tiger Thompson had drawn wide we would have had options, but we don’t have too many of those now, outside of just trying to get off and out,’’ said Mowbray.

‘‘So, at best, Tiger Thompson is going to wind up three-fence and a lot is going to depend on how fast they go, as to whether he can get out of there.

Not a lot has gone right for Tiger Thompson since he won the Central Otago Trotting Cup at Omakau back on January 2.

He galloped his way out of contention in the Cheviot Cup four starts ago after losing a shoe in the early stages and ‘‘getting grumpy after that’’, and then he was just nutted in the Wyndham Cup from a backmark of 30m.

Mowbray was ‘‘over the moon’’ with Tiger Thompson’s third in the Easter Cup after moving up in the open over the last mile, but then was scratched from the Superstars after ‘‘giving himself a bloody nose’’ before going on to the track. Tiger Thompson led and was gunned down late by the trailer Billy Badger at Addington last Friday night.

Delishka was a well-beaten favourite in Auckland a month ago and Mowbray expects Ricky May to go back and look to get on to the back of Alta Orlando, and maybe get a good drag into the race.