Trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen had blood test taken from Smolda which failed to shed any light on his lacklustre form so they have chosen to pull him out of the Flying Stakes.
With the tight, flat Kaikoura circuit on November 3 unlikely to suit him, Smolda faces going into the New Zealand Cup with only another minor Addington race or the Cup trial to bring him back to his peak.
He has drifted out to $13 with the TAB and it would not surprise to see him bypass the great race, even though he is officially still being aimed in that direction.
His absence detracts little from the Flying Stakes in which Terror To Love (9) and Christen (8) will again start from the widest draws, with Hands Christian and Adore Me alongside them, with Franco Nelson, Bit Of A Legend, Franco Ledger and Pembrook Benny adding huge depth to the field.
Which made it even more surprising that the TAB opened Terror To Love the $2 favourite for Monday and Christen Me at $3.
The meeting also sees most of New Zealand's best trotters clash in the Flying Mile, with one of the big winners in the draws being northerner Irish Whisper, from one.
R7 3.23 Ashburton Flying Stakes Pace, $50,000, c8 to oc ffa pace, stand, 2400m. - Bit Of A Legend (1), Pembrook Benny (2), Jimmy Johnstone (3), Franco Nelson (4), Franco Ledger (5), Hands Christian (6), Adore Me (7), Christen Me (8), Terror To Love (9) fr.