New Zealand’s newest and possibly most powerful training operation can only get better, because it sure can’t get any worse than the start endured by champion trainer Mark Purdon and his new partner.

His son Nathan Purdon finally officially joined the family business at the All Stars on New Year’s Day as he became a partner after the leaving of Hayden Cullen to join Team Telfer.

One of the great rollercoaster years in New Zealand harness racing history should end on a high at Alexandra Park on Saturday night.

It is fitting Copy That is a hot favourite for the last race of any code in New Zealand in 2022 because in a year of remarkable stories the journey he and trainer Ray Green have been on has been one of the most undulating.

New Zealand’s harness slot race will increase to $1million next April courtesy of more innovative thinking from the Cambridge host club.

One of the New Zealand's most tactical drivers believes Stylish Memphis can win tonight’s NZ$100,000 Queen Of Hearts at Alexandra Park, but not in the manner many would expect.

David Butcher will partner the multiple Group 1-winning mare for only the second time in Auckland’s richest mare’s pace of the year but liked how she felt when storming into third in the lead-up race last Friday.

The two stables locked in battle for the New Zealand harness racing premiership are about to see a remarkable personnel change as Team Telfer looks to increase its huge footprint in the industry.

New Zealand harness racing’s newest and biggest Group 1 meeting the Grand Prix may have snuck up on punters at Addington on Sunday.

So on a day with plenty of short-priced favourites here are some of the better betting options, with the first race at 10.15am AEST time.

Punters look set to jump aboard the Copy That rollercoaster in the New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington today but the ride may not be too scary for a very simple reason: the race is in New Zealand.

The defending champion will start favourite in the $600,000 iconic race even though today’s race is much deeper and more layered than the Cup he led and won last season.

Tony Herlihy has been in a very forgiving mood this week but things are about to get more serious.

The champion horseman was willing to forgive his stable star Bolt For Brilliance after he could manage only fifth at Kaikoura on Monday, although it will mean he goes to the races on Cup Day rather than enjoying paddock life.

Now we get the New Zealand Cup we all deserve. The Cup we sometimes felt like we would never get again.

Bloody 2020 and 2021 could do that to you. Sap your strength. Make you forget how good it felt.

A week after thinking Copy That couldn’t overcome a 55m handicap at Alexandra Park, trainer Ray Green is now more confident he can win from a staggering 70m behind at Cambridge tonight.

Rock N Roll Doo may be one of the most feared Australian horses to come to New Zealand in years but trainer Michael Stanley is warning punters not to expect his best work in the $50,000 Ashburton Flying Stakes at 2.55pm (AEDT) today.

There is life in the defending NZ Cup champion yet.

Copy That proved that in stunning fashion with a historic win at Alexandra Park on Thursday night, coming from a staggering 55 metres behind in the main pace over 2200m.

Trainer Ray Green is happy to set Copy That a mission impossible at Alexandra Park tonight for the bigger goal of defending his New Zealand Cup title.

Trainer Michael Stanley couldn’t be happier with Australian superstar Rock N Roll Doo heading into his New Zealand debut on Monday, but he still warns punters they may not see his best in the Flying Stakes.

Champion trainer Mark Purdon has given the best tip yet his star three-year-old Akuta will miss the IRT New Zealand Cup by allowing him to bypass next week’s Ashburton Flying Stakes.

That Flying Stakes was supposed to be Akuta’s acid test on the way to the Cup at Addington on November 8, but he will now miss next Monday and head to the Kaikoura Cup a week later.

Purdon says while that doesn’t definitively end his NZ Cup campaign, he is now 80-20 not to start in the iconic race.

“I had a good think about it over the weekend and he is much more likely not to be there than starting in the Cup,” said Purdon.

Champion trainer Mark Purdon is confident Akuta can bounce back from being a fatboy failure to the punter’s pin up in the $100,000 Flying Stakes at Addington tonight.

Purdon has his usual dominant hand in the age group features on one of the biggest nights of the harness racing season, albeit with his male juveniles facing a serious northern raider in the unbeaten Merlin in the $200,000 Harness Million.

The biggest names heading to Addington on Friday night have also been handed the toughest tasks.

Aussie pacers coming to Addington to win NZ's greatest race, the IRT New Zealand Cup, need to be something special.

After all, they have no advantages and have to wrest the IRT Cup away from the grasp of some incredibly talented local horsepeople and their wonderful horses who are so much more used to the rigours of standing start distance racing than the visitors can possibly be.

That is why only one Australian-trained pacer has won the New Zealand Cup this century.

But Rock N Roll Doo is the $4 second favourite for the iconic race at Addington in four weeks and could even be top elect by the big day.

Here are five reasons why he can defy history and win the Cup: