The Christen Me camp may not be panicking after his shock weekend defeat but his real New Zealand Cup rivals are about to launch their campaigns to dethrone him.
Trainer Cran Dalgety was putting on a brave public face after the Horse of the Year was beaten by stablemate MightyFlying Mac at Oamaru on Sunday, pointing to the sectional times and the fact Christen Me was three wide for the last lap as reasons for his defeat.
However, the reality is when the best pacer in Australasia gets beaten by Mighty Flying Mac he has obviously raced below his best and Christen Me's defeat was an unexpected speed bump on his road to the New Zealand Cup.
The suspicion is as a 7-year-old Christen Me has taken a little longer to come up, especially after a harsh Canterbury winter which would have done few in the region many favours.
With two races next month, Christen Me still has ample opportunity to cement his favouritism and he has been aided by a lack of key rivals suggesting they can yet challenge the multiple group one winner.
Over the weekend, leading Australian chance Arden Rooney was poor when resuming at Melton, Jason Rulz only battled in the Hannon and last season's Cup runner-up Franco Nelson struggled in a trial won by Tiger Tara at Addington yesterday.
So while Christen Me may not be the force of last season yet, none of his Cup rivals are exactly covering themselves in glory either.
That could change this weekend when the north's two leading Cup contenders return.
Ohoka Punter has found a perfect comeback race at Alexandra Park, racing mainly mid-grade rivals in a mobile 2200m and has pleased trainer Tony Herlihy in his preparation so far.
On Saturday, three-time Jewels winner Sky Major makes his first public appearance of the season at the Pukekohe workouts, one of two trials before his race return at Alexandra Park on October 1.
As proven group one horses from stables popular with punters, Ohoka Punter and more likely Sky Major could emerge as significant market movers in the next month before all the key NZ Cup contenders meet at Ashburton on October 26 for the Flying Stakes, the race that almost always finalises Cup favouritism.
The Flying Stakes is also likely to be on the agenda of Smolda, perhaps Christen Me's greatest danger, who won't resume until next month after racing in Queensland over the winter.
However, after Sunday's defeat of the $3 favourite, the Cup picture looks a little murkier than expected.
