There are myriad reasons: some are injured or out of form, others have travelled overseas while the lead-up races being mucked around by not one but two abandonments have forced some trainers to change plans.
Top-class filly Capturted By Love was one who was being aimed tentatively at the Guineas but those plans changed when the latest lead-up, the Sarten Memorial, was held at Te Aroha last week two days later than originally planned at Te Rapa.
She will now instead chase her Group 1 in the 1000 Guineas on Saturday week, giving her more time between races.
Savaglee may have also scared some rivals away, their trainers reluctant to fly them to Christchurch after being soundly beaten by him in both the Sarten and the Hawkes Bay Guineas.
Regardless of the reasons, the 2000 Guineas, one of our most important and historic races, has only eight starters and even that was boosted by the late entry of Love Poem who, all going well, will contest the 1000 Guineas too.
While a small field with a $1.50 favourite is less than ideal for Guineas turnover, the Trotting Cup at Addington has blossomed into one of the best fields in a couple of decades after a rollercoaster week.
Not only has it attracted a final field of 18 (three emergencies) but four genuine superstars in Leap To Fame, Swayzee, Merlin and Don’t Stop Dreaming.
Australian champion Leap To Fame was in doubt for the Cup when taken off his plane from Sydney last week just hours before the flight with a poor blood report but his latest blood test on Tuesday came back 100%.
So he and stablemate Aroda (emergency) will fly from Sydney to Christchurch via Auckland on Sunday, with their trainer Grant Dixon adamant flying in so close to the great race won’t affect their chances.
The biggest surprise of this Cup is defending champion Swayzee getting on the same plane after his connections paid a $28,000 late entry fee to get him into the race.
He wasn’t even in the early nominations and will race at the provincial NSW track of Young on Friday night in one of the most dramatic and radical preparations in the 120-year history of the Trotting Cup.
Swayzee faces starting from the second line on Tuesday as he did last year but in a far stronger field this time with Leap To Fame, Merlin and Don’t Stop Dreaming all drawing the front line along with Auckland Cup winner Better Eclipse.
Their involvement means the current holders of the New Zealand, Auckland, Hunter and Victoria Cup winners are in the race as well as the reigning champs of the Inter Dominion, Miracle Mile, $1 million Race by Grins and the Blacks A Fake (Group 1).
So this Cup, providing there are no more major shocks, will contain the winners of every pacing race that really matters and will provide a betting bonanza.
Australia’s champion trotter Just Believe will completely dominate betting on the $400,000 Renwick Farms Dominion which has been moved to Tuesday from its traditional Show Day date on the Friday of Cup week.
Add in an old-school north versus south battle in the Sires’ Stakes Final between Captain Sampson (barrier 1) and Marketplace (8) on Tuesday and harness racing’s biggest day could reach record turnover levels.
NEW ZEALAND CUP WEEK
Saturday: 2000 Guineas Day at Riccarton
Tuesday: New Zealand Trotting Cup Day, Addington
Wednesday: TAB Mile Day, Riccarton
Thursday: NZ Greyhound Cup night, Addington.
Friday: Show Day twilight, Addington
Saturday, November 16: 1000 Guineas and NZ Cup Day, Riccarton.
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.
