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.
But for all the talent on show tonight, including superstar trotters Muscle Mountain and Sundees Son in the Canterbury Park Trotting Cup, Akuta will attract the most eyeballs.
A Jewels and Derby winner he is rated the heir apparent to the NZ pacing throne but that quest suffered a blow when he was a well-beaten fourth in three-year-old company last start and he meets a similar field tonight.
Purdon says a stricter diet and less paddock time will see Akuta strip fitter and more potent.
“I just don’t think he was fit enough last start and I think with all the spring grass coming through he had got away on us and gotten too fat inside,” said Purdon.
“So he has less time in the paddock now so he can’t eat as much grass and he is getting less in his feed bin at night.
“While I think this run will also bring him on further, I am confident he will go better.”
Akuta will need to win tonight to still be considered a serious chance in the NZ Cup and Purdon says he will head forward from his wide draw to put horses between himself and last-start conqueror Republican Party.
He won’t have that option with Don’t Stop Dreaming, his unbeaten juvenile and best hope in the Harness Million, as he has drawn the outside of the second line.
“It is going to be a tough race because I can see Merlin getting across the ones inside him on the front line easily enough,” said Purdon.
“So my horse might have to come sit parked outside him and while he might be able to win doing that it would be easy. It will be a good race.”
Another unbeaten juvenile in Millwood Nike will be unbackable to win her Harness Million for the fillies but Purdon says stablemate Luvstruck seems happier back home than she was during her recent Auckland campaign and she could get close to the glamour filly tonight.
Away from the age group racing the handicap pace is a beauty with far more New Zealand Cup relevance than probably expected.
It boasts in-form depth from stablemates B D Joe and Allamericanlover and Heza Sport while there are question marks over Kango and Krug after their last start failures, so there could be some market or even NZ Cup rankings shuffling after tonight.
It is hard to believe both Sundees Son and Muscle Mountain will gallop again in the big trot but their last-start shenanigans might have some punter steering away from short odds in what will be a telling pointer to the massive month of trotting features ahead.
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.