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By Greg Prichard

Port Macquarie trainer Marc Quinn has used all of his experience to give Agirlsbestfriend the best chance of handling a drop back in distance and being where it matters at the finish of the Hopkins Livermore Cup at Taree races on Friday.

Agirlsbestfriend ($3.80 favourite on TAB) had never raced over further than 1500m before stepping up to 1800m for a fifth in a TAB Highway Handicap at Rosehill Gardens on August 5.

Agirlsbestfriend and Jenny Duggan head to the barriers at Rosehill Gardens. Image by Bradley Photographers

After just 13 days between runs the four-year-old mare returns to the more familiar distance of 1400m for the feature race on the card and Quinn explained how he has tried to help her meet the challenge.

“There wasn’t a suitable Highway for another eight weeks, so we thought we’d have a crack at the 1800 metres,” he said.

“She ran quite well and looked like she’d fill a place at the 300m, but she probably peaked on her run about 150m out.

“We learned a few more things about her that day and batted on from there and the big question now is how she reacts to coming back in distance.

“We’ve done everything we can to freshen her. She’s only been under a saddle a couple of times since and done most of her exercise swimming in the river.

“She had a short gallop on Tuesday morning and pleased us with that. We’ve just tried to keep her happy and fresh and she’s given us every indication that she’s feeling good for this race.

“I can’t fault her. She’s ready to give her best and I’m optimistic about her chances. I wouldn’t run her unless I thought she’d run well.”

Agirlsbestfriend will start from barrier one with in-form apprentice jockey Zac Wadick on board and Quinn said all he was hoping for was a fast pace.

“It’s going to be all about the speed of the race,” he said. “She’ll get back a bit and if they walk it’ll be hard for her, but if the tempo is good and they get along in front she’ll be getting home hard - that’s for sure.

“I think they’ll go quick because from the 1400m start at Taree they reach a turn after about 300 metres and if a few of them want to get into position before that it might string the field out a bit. That would suit my mare.”

Quinn campaigned in the Country Championships series with Agirlsbestfriend last autumn, but she failed to qualify for the rich Final at Randwick. He’s aiming at the same event next autumn though.

“I think it all came along too soon for her in that preparation and she had probably already peaked when she got to the qualifier,” he said.

“She’s only had 11 career starts and she’ll be much stronger and more mature next autumn. This will probably be her last start this preparation. We’ll give her some time off after that and then start getting ready for the Country Championships.”

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