The race for second is about to begin.
On paper Mountain Gold and Sundon's Way, who return to the track at Alexandra Park on Friday night, are as good as trotters as you hope to see.
Mountain Gold exploded on to the scene last year, winning the Rowe Cup and New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All and looked set for greatness.
Sundon's Way wasn't far behind. Two seasons ago he smashed the national mile record with a 1:57.4 effort at Ashburton before going down to Cedar Fella by a nose in the Dominion. It seemed only a matter of time before group one glory came his way.
But that was in the BLC era - before Lyell Creek.
When Lyell Creek turned trotting into a one-horse town last season Mountain Gold's manners deserted him and Sundon's Way simply forgot how to win. Like for a whole year.
So now both squaregaiters stand at the bottom of the mountain that is Lyell Creek and their trainers ponder how to conqueror it.
Mountain Gold indicated he was back to his best with an easy win at the Alexandra Park workouts on Saturday, beating Natural Glow by one and a quarter lengths, with a nose to Sundon's Way in a 2700m workout.
The winner trotted his last 800m in a quick 58.2 seconds and trainer Barry Purdon is adamant his trotting star is better than last season.
"I think he has to be better for the experience of travelling and racing away from home last season," said Purdon.
"I think he still deserves to be called the second-best trotter in the country on ability. In the second half of last season his manners started to let him down but on raw ability I think he is a better horse than Sundon's Way."
But that still leaves Lyell Creek. Like everybody in harness racing Purdon has been stunned to see Lyell Creek looking even better than last season in his two races this campaign.
"He looks that well he is going to be very hard to beat, but of course, they can all be beaten. A lot can happen between now and the Cup meeting."
That is when the pair will first clash this season. Mountain Gold will not race in the south until he defends his Trotting Free-For-All title on November 17, a week before the Dominion.
The latter is a race many trainers are targeting as their best chance to beat Lyell Creek as the champion will have to overcome a 15m handicap. Unfortunately for them, with the no-push out rule, a 15m headstart may not be enough.
Mountain Gold will have one major plus on his side as he prepares for Lyell Creek, with Tony Herlihy confirmed as his driver.
And Herlihy's new open class pacing drive also resumes at Friday night's premier meeting at Alexandra Park.
Ouch missed the Spring Cup two weeks ago after an injury but looked ready when beating Agua Caliente at the workouts on Saturday.
Ouch will be making his debut from the Mark Purdon stable after being purchased by the same United States owners who have invested heavily in the New Zealand industry by sending leading stallion Presidential Ball here and buying champion filly Tupelo Rose.
Last season Ouch was good enough to beat Holmes D G, Yulestar and Agua Caliente off level marksin the first open class race of the season before starting to mix his form for trainer Geoff Small. But Purdon believes the son of In The Pocket has the ability to return to his best and become a serious open class contender.
"I am very happy with the way he has come up and even though he is only class eight at this stage I am confident we can get him into the New Zealand Cup," said Purdon.
Ouch paced his last 800m in 57.3 seconds on Saturday, beating Agua Caliente by a head, with Easter Cup winner Facta Non Verba a length away third.
The latter will not start on Friday night as trainer Mike Berger is waiting until Cambridge a week later.
"It would be a very big ask to throw him in against the best horses for his first run back," said Berger.
Nominations for Friday night's premier meeting will close at 10 am today.
The Auckland Trotting Club left nominations open because of light entries for the open class trot and the three-year-old race.
The ATC have also scheduled another race, a $7000 CO pace over 2200m.
Interdominion champion Shakamaker returns to racing at Moonee Valley on Saturday night - providing the track is still there.
The last six races at last Saturday's Moonee Valley meeting were abandoned after a deluge caused the relaid surface to slip and made the track unsuitable for racing.
HRV board members met engineers yesterday to ensure the problem would be resolved in time for Shakamaker's return.
The exceptional 5-year-old warmed up for his comeback by sprinting his last 400m in a dazzling 26.7 seconds in a trial last week.
He will clash with his Chariots Of Fire conqueror Lombo Rapida in the $A20,000 Melton Plate.
Recent stallion import Precious Bunny has received a huge boost.
The former champion racehorse, who won the 1991 Little Brown Jug, confirmed his place among the greats when his son P B Bullville became the fastest race-winning, 3-year-old ever at the Red Mile on Saturday.
He paced an unbelievable 1:48 when winning by five lengths after being parked in the middle stages.
Precious Bunny was a big attraction at the recent northern stallion expo at Karaka and looks certain to secure an outstanding book of mares this season.
Racing: Outstanding pair ordinary beside Lyell Creek
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