NZ Cup tentative early target for Chase Auckland

DON’T let Chase Auckland’s place near the top of the early New Zealand Cup markets fool you.

Because while trainer Mark Purdon has confirmed the superstar 3yrold will be nominated for the great race he is anything but certain to start.

Chase Auckland was unheard of this time last year but has emerged as our best 3yrold pacer, winning eight of his nine starts for nearly $400,000 in stakes.

A midseason injury meant he was robbed of his shot at the New Zealand Derby and Jewels but after winning the Sires’ Stakes, Sales Series and Northern Derby he will be crowned 3yrold of the season at the national awards on September 29. The silver lining to his postNorthern Derby problems are that he was in the spelling paddock earlier than a fellow 3yrold star such as Sheriff so will be back racing in plenty of time to get the kilometres in his legs needed for the 3200m Cup on November 13.

But Purdon says while the Cup is the first aim it is still a tentative target.

‘‘He will be nominated and then we will let him tell us if he is ready for it,’’ he said.

‘‘Because of the rating he will be on he will have to race the best horses at some stage early in the season and that will give us a guide as to whether he is ready for the Cup that early or whether we wait to later in the season to target an Auckland Cup.

‘‘So he will start on a Cup campaign but if we think he is not ready he could do what Ultimate Machete did this season, miss the Cup and wait for the [New Zealand] FreeForAll.’’

That strategy worked last year when Ultimate Machete wisely dodged stablemate Lazarus in the Cup and won the FreeForAll three days later but this year’s Cup is far more open without the enormous judder bar that was Lazarus in the way.

The TAB has opened its earliest New Zealand Cup market. Nominations are not even taken until August 29 and the fact Ultimate Machete is the $5.50 opening favourite confirms how open this year’s classic looks.

Purdon is happy with how Ultimate Machete’s issues which ruined the second half of this season for him have settled down and indicates the $800,000 Cup will suit him better than the four races of an Interdominion a month later.

With him being set specifically for the race, his $5.50 quote makes far more sense than the $6 for Chase Auckland, who is far from guaranteed to be there.

Any punter eyeing the Cup market should be careful, though, as the bookies have not included Soho Tribeca, one of Australia’s best pacers, who has been set for the race and should be viewed as coming.

And West Australian trainer Gary Hall confirmed to the Herald he will nominate Interdominion runnerup Chicago Bull and rates him a 7030 chance of coming.

If that pair make it to the race, they will be among the favourites so until they are included in the market it is very much buyer beware.

With so many highprofile pacers exported or retired this year one of the few genuine Cup winners still in the his season is Dream About Me, who is the most forward of the Purdon’s big guns.

She pushed Lazarus to a halfneck in the Flying Stakes at Ashburton last season and, as a former Auckland Cup winner, would only need to hold together to be one of the New Zealand Cup’s major players.

‘‘She has had all sorts of problems with corns but they are good at the moment and she is not too far away from the trials,’’ Purdon said.