Living the dream

John Dickie never thought it would be like this.

The quietly-spoken Cambridge trainer heads into Sunday's Australasian Breeders Crown with two red hot favourites in races worth over a combined A$260,000 ($327,000).

A year ago that would have been a dream. Now it is almost normal.

Not even three months ago Flying Isa and Paramount Geegee were hot favourites in the 2 and 3-year-old trotting divisions of the Harness Jewels and got punters home, as they have most times in the past 12 months.

They have almost been faultless in feature races, winning five group ones between them and over $615,000 - unheard of for young trotters in this part of the world.

After securing perfect draws in Sunday's two finals at Melton, they are expected to continue Dickie's transformation from respected trotting trainer to the man with the most feared one-two combination.

And Dickie admits the pair are helping make the journey easier.

"Having been through this with both of them several times now, especially at the Jewels, takes the pressure off. I know what they can do and how to peak them and as long as I get them there ready they usually do the rest."

Tonight will mark a rare Friday without harness racing in New Zealand. The Addington meeting has been abandoned because of the snow.APN News & Media