The handicapper might have got the better of Maygrove in an overall sense, but the grey could buck that with victory in the $70,000 Rotorua Cup.
Okay, Maygrove has won $375,000, but the 60kg he carried last start in the Hawke's Bay Cup points to the lack of overall depth of our open stayers at this time of year.
Thanks to the appearance of Pump Up The Volume, who will carry the 60kg topweight, Maygrove drops back to 59kg even though second in the Hawke's Bay Cup.
Summing this race up and assuming Rotorua has copped the rain Auckland and Waikato received yesterday with showers predicted for today, there is little to choose between Maygrove and absolute mudder Pacorus, who, in finishing fourth behind Maygrove at Hastings, was three lengths behind.
Maygrove gets the nod with an unbeaten record in two starts at Rotorua, a significant statistic. He can handle the worst of winter conditions as he showed winning the Jakkalberry Classic there in October under 60kg. But if the track became a bog, which looks unlikely, it would suit Pacorus even more and in those conditions the 3kg between the pair would become more significant.