Racing: Butcher can rest after knocking up his ton

David Butcher doing a warm up run with Golden Bloom. Photo / APN

David Butcher's jet lag will have to wait until Saturday.

New Zealand's representative at the World Drivers Champs in France last month arrived back in Cambridge yesterday after five weeks away from domestic harness racing.

But while Butcher has the rather annoying habit of not being able to sleep on planes, he will have to wait a couple of days to catch up on his rest because he still has one remaining goal for the season.

He heads to his local meeting tonight, before Alexandra Park tomorrow night, on 98 wins for the season and wants to crack the ton for the fourth consecutive year.

"I wanted to get to the 100 and I might be able to sneak there," said Butcher.

"Considering the travelling we have done I don't feel too bad and I saw some really cool things in Europe," says Butcher, who had never been there before.

He was on a hiding to nothing at the World Champs where he drove few realistic winning chances.

"I won one race and was a certainty beat on another one but I drove plenty who were flat a long way from home," he said.

"I would have liked to spend a bit more time studying their racing before I started driving because it is quite different from ours and the language barrier didn't help but it was a great experience.

"Apart from one horse, who bolted three laps on me in the prelim and I couldn't hold him. By the time I got back to the stables after the race with him I was stuffed."

Butcher will partner last-start winner Meet Me In Mayfair in the main handicap pace tonight where she goes up against Mac Bubbles, who will be trying to give her trainer Cran Dalgety a different type of milestone, his first national premiership.

Dalgety starts tonight two wins behind Mark Purdon but has two serious winning hopes, the other being For The Ladies (R6) on the truncated programme.

Whoever manages the better beginning out of Mac Bubbles and Meet Me In Mayfair is the one to beat, with the southern filly having the advantage after three standing starts for two wins.

For The Ladies brings great form to her race but faces a dreaded outside draw over 1700m in a race where the speed looks set to be on, which will suit Butcher's drive with Shardon's Pearl.

Add in Viewfield Apache (R2), Banana Smoothie (R3) and the inexperienced Miro Bay (R4) and Butcher has enough chances to suggest he can creep at least one win closer to the 100 before tomorrow night.

The hotpot of the night will be in the first race, where unbeaten juvenile Bandana has been aided by three scratchings inside him, helping negate his outside barrier draw.

This season's New Zealand Trotting Cup in November will be worth $650,000, up $50,000 from last season.

Addington bosses have announced some encouraging stake increases for their biggest races, with the NZ Free-For-All up $50,000 to $200,000 and staying at the mile distance.

The pacing Oaks and Derby will also increase $25,000, with over $400,000 in stakes' boosts to lower grade races at Addington to be finalised in coming weeks.