By Michael Guerin
It is Grand Final qualifier night at Addington this Friday.
Not that the high-grade meeting is actually called that but it might as well be for plenty of the starters in the $60,000 Lamb And Hayward Canterbury Classic.
The 2600m standing start is the latest in a series of almost identical races in the south in the last six weeks, all of them aiming toward the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup on November 12.
The difference is this one boasts three golden tickets to the Cup and for at least half the field on Friday it might be the last chance to get in.
It is rare to see so many southern pacers hoping to get a New Zealand Cup slot but realistically sitting outside the 15 who will actually start.
With Leap To Fame and Better Eclipse coming, the north having at least three serious open class stars in Merlin, Sooner The Better and Mach Shard and the likes of Dalton Shard and Republican Party already certain to be in the Cup, over half the field is set in stone.
Add in the soon to return Don’t Stop Dreaming and even if none of the other Aussies nominated come (which is looking increasingly likely) then there are only seven Cup spots left with about 12-15 horses trying to secure them.
So Friday’s race, with so few of the NZ Cup favourites involved, is far and away the best opportunity for those on the borderline to make their way into the Cup field.
It includes the usual Team Dunn army, the return of Alta Meteor and Beach Ball and last Friday’s impressive Addington winner Tact McLeod.
It highlights a card that also hosts the Lazarus Stakes for some of the south’s best three-year-olds and $50,000 Aldebaran Eagle Two-Year-Old Trot, with the unbeaten Habibti Pat versus Ya Rite Darl.
To see the field for the Canterbury Classic click here