Racing: Champ should claim victory

Elsu will not be 100 per cent fit going into the final race of his season tonight but he probably won't need to be.

Trainer Geoff Small admits his champion pacer won't be quite at the form which won him the Interdominion Grand Final on March 18 but he doesn't expect Elsu's rivals to be either.

"The way the race has panned out I think all of us will be short of our best," said Small. "My fella is very well and I think he is ready to win but he is not as screwed down as he was going into the Interdom final.

" Horses like Sly Flyin and Alta Serena missed their final lead-up races last week and they are probably in the same boat as us."

Elsu easily won a workout at Alexandra Park two weeks ago and ran second to Alta Serena, with Sly Flyin alongside in third, in last Saturday's 2200m mobile workout.

"David [Butcher] was happy with him and these days the horse has grown up so much he knows when it is racenight.

"He should still win."

Elsu has the benefit of drawing inside his only two realistic dangers and if he can wrest the lead off likely early leaders then it is hard to imagine rival drivers challenging him.

That would be a case of race over.

His only real concern would be if Sly Flyin worked his way to the lead early, in which case he could part Elsu out or take a trail on him and use the passing lane.

Sly Flyin's form in the last three months suggest he is now New Zealand's third best pacer behind Elsu and Just An Excuse, with Alta Serena not far behind. But regardless of tactics and fitness one fact remains: Elsu is the best racehorse in Australasia so he should win.

That may not be enough to encourage most punters to take the $1.18 fixed odds, being offered by the bookmaker so a better bet could be a quinella with Sly Flyin., who looks certain to be closer to the champ in the running than Alta Serena.

Small's lead in the trainer's premiership should be extended tonight and not just by Elsu.

Small also rates the champ's half-brother Revagain a huge chance in the last race and fellow 3-year-olds Spirit Of Dreams and Hippity Hop winning chances in race three.

"I am happy with all of them, although Revagain's draw outside Supreme Edition makes things tricky over 1700m.

"And Winforu has to be hard in race nine because he is dropping back in grade after the Messenger."