Maarek will wait for cut in the ground David Nagle's star sprinter Maarek is unlikely to make the trip to Newmarket for Saturday's Pearl Bloodstock Palace House Stakes due to the prospect of a sound surface. The proven mudlark made the most of a wet summer to win five times during a fantastic 2012 campaign, enjoying his biggest day when landing the Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot in October. He made a most impressive return to action in the Listed Woodlands Stakes at Naas last month, and Nagle will look for some give in the ground before deciding on his stable star's next target. Nagle said: "There would need to be a good bit of rain for him to be going to Newmarket and I don't think there's any forecast. "There is a race at Longchamp the following weekend (Prix de Saint-Georges) and it's more likely he'll get his ground there, so we could wait for that. "Then there is the race in York (Duke Of York Stakes, May 15) and the Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh (May 25). All of those races are within the space of about two weeks and he'll go wherever he will get a bit of ease in the ground. "He was very good on his first run back, I was delighted with him. Hopefully if he gets his conditions he might have a good go at a Group 1 somewhere. "He's in the five-furlong race (King's Stand) and the six-furlong race (Diamond Jubilee) at Royal Ascot, so we have options and can see which day the ground suits us more."
