When you have a wet tracker and a dry tracker in the same race the knife edge you walk is very frightening.
Dean and Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs may get it just right for themselves with El Perez and Focal Point in the $50,000 Jim and John Evans Classicat Paeroa tomorrow.
When the pair last raced at Ellerslie two weeks ago, El Perez won and finished seven lengths in front of Focal Point.
But the track, late in the day, was extremely heavy after continuous rain and Focal Point was greatly disadvantaged.
"I thought she (Focal Point) could have just about beaten El Perez if it hadn't rained," said Donna Logan.
That was a big call and on a track that was yesterday 3.2 and dead and likely to be considerably better by late afternoon tomorrow, Focal Point rates as a real danger in a race that looks to be massively competitive.
El Perez has won only on slow or heavy tracks, but he has had just four starts outside those zones and should not be greatly inconvenienced by tomorrow's footing.
He is a genuine class racehorse and is a trifecta must.
That run at Ellerslie was the first start this campaign for Focal Point and she is likely to be improved for it.
Don't Ya Lovett, Danz Star, Justa Tad, Fiscal Madness, mudder Baltaine and classy stayer Pentane make this a wonderful betting medium.
The 1670m is way short of Auckland Cup winner Pentane's best, but he is still relatively fresh after just one lead-in run in the Mudgway Stakes and may produce a cheeky effort. He was good enough to win the big Ellerslie race last campaign, but looked a much more mature horse at Hastings.
He also looked in magnificent condition and trainer Lance O'Sullivan says he is a much better horse now. That adds up to a "must-watch" scenario.
