KEY POINTS:
Freakish pacer Auckland Reactor could join the open class ranks just days after the New Zealand Cup.
But trainer Mark Purdon says the great race itself may come a week too soon for the unbeaten superstar.
In a shock revelation to the Herald, Purdon has admitted Auckland Reactor
could take on the likes of Changeover and Monkey King in the New Zealand Free-For-All on November 14 - just three days after the New Zealand Cup.
And that would open the door for Auckland Reactor to be invited to the Miracle Mile in Sydney two weeks later, rapidly accelerating his move on to the Grand Circuit stage.
The news will stun rival trainers who had not expected to have to deal with the much-hyped 4-year-old until Christmas at the earliest.
Auckland Reactor produced a string of staggering performances last season which catapulted him from an unknown to Horse of the Year.
He won the Sires' Stakes Final, New Zealand Derby, paced the fastest official last 800m in New Zealand and was sold for around $3.6 million.
But he suffered a mystery back complaint just days before the Harness Jewels at Cambridge and was forced to spend much of the winter confined to a stable. That convinced Purdon Auckland Reactor would not be back racing until Christmas but his improvement in the last month has been so dramatic the great trainer has had to reassess his plans.
"He did so much walking over the winter he looked superb when I got back from my trip to the States.
"That was a month ago and I was thrilled to think then he would be back racing at Christmas. But since then he has got better and better and right now I have a race at Ashburton pencilled in for him." That is October 27, when most of the best pacers will do battle in the Flying Stakes, but Auckland Reactor could start in a class six and faster race instead.
"If he goes there he will probably race during Cup week, maybe in the junior free-for-all and possibly the main free-for-all."
But Purdon says even with his dramatic improvement curve, Auckland Reactor has little chance of making the New Zealand Cup. "It would be too soon to go up against those horses but if something happened to horses like Changeover and Monkey King, then maybe it would become a distant option. But it's not likely."
Purdon knows Auckland Reactor would only have to win any sort of race at the Cup carnival to have Harold Park officials falling over themselves to invite him to the Miracle Mile on November 28.
The Mile is the greatest stallion-making race in Australasia and if Auckland Reactor looks a winning chance, his connections, who bought him for his stallion potential, would have to think seriously about it.
The potential of an Auckland Reactor-Changeover-Monkey King team with support from Awesome Armbro, Baileys Dream and Report For Duty tackling Australia's elite of Blacks A Fake, Divisive, Safari and Smoken Up later in the season will have harness fans drooling.
SHOCK REACTION
* Champion pacer Auckland Reactor could be back racing next month.
* Trainer Mark Purdon (left) is thrilled with the stallion's recovery from a mystery ailment.
* Auckland Reactor could take on the open class horses at the New Zealand Cup carnival.
* A win there would earn him a Miracle Mile invitation.
