KEY POINTS:
Anthony Cummings has had a few concerns this season, but Lord Turffontein is not one of them.
The Sydney trainer is unfazed that the record of his Australian raider in tomorrow's $1 million First Sovereign Trust Telegraph suggests he is best on rain-affected tracks.
"Actually, we thought originally
that he hated wet ground, which is why he had his first career win in Brisbane - we went up there in search of a dry track.
"Subsequent events prove that that isn't the case, but I believe the horse is equally adept in any type of footing."
Recently Anthony Cummings parted company with Patinack principal, mining magnate Nathan Tinkler and 129 horses suddenly left his books when Cummings refused to move his operation from Randwick to Warwick Farm.
But rather than get on the back foot, Cummings got on the offensive. He has 70 horses in work at Randwick and he's in Wellington to pick up the major share of a million dollars.
It's his first trip to New Zealand with a horse, but he's done his homework and knows the Telegraph is the right race for Lord Turffontein.
He knows the group one sprint is more like a 1400m race - and that's the visitor's preference.
"He's suffered in slowly-run races at times when we've ridden him forward and he hasn't run on."
There will be speed aplenty in the first half of the Telegraph and Cummings knows that is his horse's best chance.
"He'll be worse than mid-field early, but he can really get to the line when there's been speed on.
"He came from second last when he finished second in the Patinack Stakes at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival."
The Patinack is a group one race - outstanding form for a New Zealand sprint.
Cummings says Lord Turffontein has done very well since arriving in New Zealand last week.
"He galloped at Trentham this week and I'm very happy with him."
His Melbourne-based jockey Glen Boss went winless at the Ellerslie carnival, but has a top chance at group one glory tomorrow.
This will be an outstanding race.
Little mare Martini Red is a royal chance to figure in the trifecta.
She finished only 1.5 lengths from Jacowils in the Railway last start and trainer Ross Elliot was rapt with the effort.
"I've been over the tape of that race a dozen times," he said.
"The idea was to keep those horses that had drawn wider working, but I reckon that probably cost her a length. If you put another length into her finish she wasn't far away."
Elliot knows this race will be run differently.
"There'll be that much speed in the race that she can cross over [from barrier 7]and slot in a couple back and one off.
"If she can work into the clear at the 300 she could poke her nose right into it."
You can make a case for at least 10 Telegraph runners.
Mufhasa was swamped into fifth in the Railway when dropping back from 1600m to 1200m, but was still beaten only three-quarters of a length.
The Telegraph is traditionally more like a 1400m race and the long Trentham straight will probably suit him better than Ellerslie.
The 1400m element also makes Fritzy Boy a realistic chance fresh from a break and Bulginbaah is not without some upset chance, despite his advancing age.
Fully Fledged might not have been suited by leading in the Newmarket on the opening day at Ellerslie, being run down late by Accardo.
He has proved he is good running at the leaders -a likely option from the No 4 gate. Fully Fledged will be ridden for the first time by Sydney-based South African jockey Jeff Lloyd, who won the AJC Derby for his trainers Murray and Bjorn Baker.