Racing: Elsu hunts another cup

Elsu's arch-rival may have been the catalyst for trainer Geoff Small designing a $1.3 million campaign for the champion.

The dual Auckland Cup winner is a surprise addition to next month's A$450,000 Hunter Cup field at Moonee Valley in what will be his long-awaited Victorian debut.

He will spearhead what could be a seven-horse New Zealand assault on Australasia's richest pacing handicap, even though Small hadn't even considered the race until a few days ago.

"His whole season was going to be about the New Zealand and Auckland Cups before the Interdominions here," said Small.

"We hadn't even thought about the Hunter Cup but once we started it made sense."

One obvious attraction is the enormous prize money but another is a lesson learned by Small earlier this campaign.

Because when Elsu's arch-rival Just An Excuse produced a miraculous performance to down him in the New Zealand Cup in November it confirmed to Small that nothing in racing is guaranteed.

"Races like that show just how hard it is to win the really big ones," said Small.

"We could set him solely for the Interdominions here and he could get beaten by a freak performance just like in the New Zealand Cup.

"So while we have a horse who is fit, healthy and in form it makes sense to chase serious money - and the Hunter Cup is serious money."

Small is hoping to get a race for Elsu at Alexandra Park on February 3, just nine nights before the Hunter Cup.

"That would mean he can fly over there just a few days before the race and it won't interrupt his Interdominion preparation too much.

"And it means he will have good, hard racing leading into the Interdoms instead of racing here for $20,000.

"It makes sense in a lot of ways."

After a decade of being one of New Zealand's best trainers Small has graduated to the elite group in the last three years and with that has come the need to know what is going on throughout Australasia so as to not miss his opportunities.

"I have been watching what has been going on over there and Sokyola looks better than the rest of them.

"I realise we may get a 20m handicap alongside him in the Hunter Cup but that gives us a better chance than drawing outside him in a mobile race."

Elsu will head an enormous New Zealand assault on Harness Racing Victoria's Nights of Glory carnival, with up to 14 horses possibly crossing the Tasman.

Many will, like Elsu, use the carnival as a build-up to the Interdominions, which start at Alexandra Park on March 4.

The Hunter Cup carries an extra incentive for Interdominion contenders, with a A$25,000 bonus to any horse who can win the double.

That should matter little to Small, though with Elsu the likely early favourite for both races - and when you add in three $40,000 Interdominion heats - it means Elsu will start in races worth more than $1.3 million in just five weeks.