All Blacks head coach Ian Foster and Italy's Kieran Crowley clash over claims that the NZ side will 'intimidate' and 'bully' the Italians in the upcoming match. Video / NZ Herald
Don’t let the shock driver change for B D Joe put you off the favourite in tonight’s $60,000 Canterbury Classic at Addington.
The 2600-metre standing start race sees the road to the New Zealand Trotting Cup get far steeper as three of the biggest names in pacing, Akuta, Self Assuredand Krug, resume in a capacity field.
While that trio will all improve with their outings tonight - any could win without being a surprise - but the fitter stablemates, B D Joe and Aardie’s Express, have an obvious advantage.
That comes with a slight twist: B D Joe’s regular reinsman Tim Williams will partner Aardie’s Express, even though she is the open-class newcomer.
So Terry Chmiel, who rarely drives at the highest level these days, will partner B D Joe for his now-bosses Steve and Amanda Telfer.
“I wouldn’t read too much into Tim driving the mare because that was my decision,” says Steve Telfer.
B D Joe (far left). Photo / David Di Somma
“She is still learning and new to this grade and I didn’t want to be putting a new driver on her, which we would have had to do if Tim had driven B D Joe.
“This is sort of her main NZ Cup trial and if she performs really well, then she can remain in a Cup path, but if not, then things night change and that could see Tim back on B D Joe for his next start.
“Terry has been working for us for two, three months now and is a very experienced horseman so I still think B D Joe is the best chance of our three (Allamericanlover being the other) in the race.”
The first 200m will be crucial: if the favoured Telfer pair can work themselves to handy positions, or even the dream lead-trail scenario, they could be too slick over the last 800m.
But the raw class in the field belongs to Akuta and Self Assured, the latter also with an unexpected driver change as Zachary Butcher fills in for regular driver Natalie Rasmussen.
Earlier in the night, two of the other big names of the harness game both face awkward tasks from tricky starting positions.
Muscle Mountain (R6, No 8) should be able to overcome his 20m handicap in the main trot, as it was only an early check that saw him beaten by Aardiebythehill last start, and he will strip fitter tonight.
Don’t Stop Dreaming (R7, No 10) is one of our two best 3-year-olds but that forces him to start from the outside of the front line over 1980m, with plenty of fit, hard-running rivals inside him who will make his life difficult.
He can still win because he has the x-factor of a top All Stars pacer but with trainer-driver Mark Purdon suggesting he will drive him conservatively early, punters should be careful about anchoring him in all their multis.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally-published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
