Roger Allen is hoping his progressive stayer Subtle Point can shed the bridesmaid tag he has collected lately when he tackles the Listed Japac Homes Marton Cup (2200m) at Trentham on Saturday.

The lightly raced six-year-old son of Nadeem has racked up a string of four runner-up finishes in his last four starts with Allen keen to see him take the thick end of the stake on the weekend.

“He’s had a few seconds lately which has been a little frustrating,” Allen said.

“He has been a pretty slow maturer and I think he is still growing even though he seems a lot stronger in this campaign.

“The Nadeems tend to need a bit of time and I think you can see that in him.

“He has really hit his straps and he galloped well this morning (Tuesday) which gives me confidence he will be in the thick of it again this week.

“He can go on most tracks but does like a little bit of moisture in the surface, so the weather forecast for showers later in the week might play in our favour as well.”

Allen does have a decision to make later in the week as he considers making a late nomination for Subtle Point for the Gr.3 NZ Campus for Innovation and Sport Wellington Cup (3200m) at Trentham on January 28.

“We’ve been thinking about a late nom for the Wellington Cup and I was looking at the current nominations to see where he would sit on his current rating,” he said.

“Those late noms close on Friday morning so we’ll have to decide before he runs on Saturday.

“I think he is probably on the borderline of a start if we did nom but he can get two bites of the cherry in the Marton Cup as the winner is exempt from the Wellington Cup ballot, while if he ran in the money the extra rating points he would get might just tip the scale in his favour.

“He will probably have a break after that although he is just loving his racing at the moment and when he ran second last time in the Manawatu Cup (Gr.3, 2300m) he could have gone around the next day he was that keen.”

Allen also confirmed that visiting Irish jockey Joe Doyle would take the ride on Subtle Point in the Marton Cup.