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Aussie star Rock N Roll Doo should get his shot at Cup week redemption in the $200,000 Airpark Canterbury NZ Free For All on Friday.
The Victoria Cup winner lost all chance with an early gallop in the New Zealand Cup on Tuesday, the second time he has missed away from a standing start on this trip.
But he returns to a more favourable mobile start for the 1980m Group 1 on Friday and has a handy front line draw at barrier five.
While it won’t be a case of the big pacer simply strolling to the front – with the likes of Alta Wiseguy (one) and Cranbourne (four) drawn inside him – at least punters can be confident of him being in the race and handy so he will get his best chance to break the New Zealand duck.
NZ Cup winner Copy That and fourth-placed Akuta will not back-up from Tuesday, but Spankem and Self Assured, who was very good late in the Cup, will start in the Free For All.
Old Town Road, whose connections were originally going to let him miss the race, is in the field with a second line draw, joined back there by Cup runner-up Majestic Cruiser. He has barrier 13, the outside of the second line.
One of the intriguing aspects of the Free For All draw is Alta Wiseguy being in barrier one with stablemate B D Joe on his back.
Also drawn barrier one but probably not as advantageously is Muscle Mountain in Friday’s $300,000 Renwick Farms Dominion.
The giant trotter has had his standing start issues in the past so the ace was probably the front line draw his connections didn’t want.
Favourite Sundees Son, looking for his third-straight win in the Dominion, will start from the seemingly ideal barrier seven.
The barrier draws could also play a huge role in the $150,000 Dunstan Horsefeeds Sires’ Stakes Final for the two-year-old fillies, with northerner Kahlua Flybye securing the ace. Advance Party is on her back, while unbeaten star Millwood Nike has drawn the middle of the second line and faces a huge challenge.
After a mammoth turnover day on Tuesday, Addington will again host 13 races on Friday starting at noon.
