If there are racing gods, it appears they take multi bets.
Because either that or a remarkable set of coincidences have seen many of the long-term favourites draw almost perfectly for next Saturday's Harness Jewels.
And while there is often a twist in the last week heading into the Jewels, there could be as many as seven odds-on favourites at Ashburton's $1.2 million meeting.
Of the six odds-on favourites before yesterday's draw, all have drawn the front row for their mobile mile assignments, with four of them to start from barrier three or inside. The two others, Enghien (barrier seven in the three-year-old Ruby) and Spanish Armada (likely to start from six in the three-year-old Diamond) are not natural gate flyers so are probably better suited drawn wider on the front line.
The huge winners from the draws were Piccadilly Princess, who gets the ace in the four-year-old mares' pace while Spankem will be red-hot in the juvenile boys' pace from barrier two.