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By Ray Hickson

It was hard to miss the first-up run by Laure Me In at the end of the autumn carnival and trainer David Pfieffer is hoping he can parlay the effort into a feature $200,000 Darley Scone Cup (1600m) win on Friday.

Trainer David Pfieffer (Pic: Steve Hart)

The life of a backmarker means you’re usually beaten more than you win but Pfieffer says the consistent six-year-old makes the trip to Scone at the top of his game and is even content with a double figure barrier.

“First-up you always know he needs a run but he went super, he didn’t get a lot of room,’’ he said.

“He won second-up last prep and I think we are heading to the right race. He’s drawn a fraction awkward but I think that is going to help his racing pattern and if he can be just worse than midfield three wide with cover it’ll be fine.

“It’s a great race for him and I expect him to be highly competitive.”

Laure Me In produced some sizzling sectionals as he ran into fourth place behind Rocha Clock over 1400m at Randwick on April 24.

Punter’s Intelligence sectional data showed he ran the fastest last 600m of 33.88 and was responsible for the fastest 200m splits for four of the last five furlongs as he made a long run from the back.

The gelding drops 1.5kg and Pfieffer is convinced he has a big race win in him this preparation.

“I was disappointed he didn’t run a place (first-up). The horse has been going well, his trials were super and I expect the horse to race really well,’’ he said.

“I thought his last prep was really good, he went from being a Benchmark horse at midweek level to going through his grades and being competitive at stakes level.

“He’s a great horse to work with, the staff love him, and I’d like to see him improve again but if he can keep winning a couple of races each preparation he’s an owner’s dream.”

It seems Laure Me In’s return didn't go unnoticed as he was $5 favourite for the Scone Cup with TAB on Thursday.

Pfieffer debuts Flying Artie colt Artero in the $200,000 Inglis Challenge (1100m) on Friday having elected to save him from a race at Wyong on Thursday.

He said the youngster has his share of talent and while drawn out he’d prefer to be drawn wide at Scone than at Wyong with the wide open spaces on offer.

Laure Me In runs fourth at Randwick on April 24

Artero is a $13 chance with TAB but he’s shown Pfieffer more than enough to warrant chasing the impressive prizemoney.

“This is a $200,000 race and it’s effectively a $200,000 maiden, not a lot of horses get to run in a race like that,’’ he said.

“It’s really attractive to the owners.

“I quite like him, he’s a nice horse and a very athletic style of animal who is going to be a better three-year-old. From race to race I expect him to improve sharply which is what he’s done in his trials.”

All the fields, form and replays for Friday's Scone Cup meeting