Racing: Oz stars, strong southern assault point to great night at Alexandra Park

Two of Australian racing's biggest names face horror Alexandra Park debuts on Friday night.

But one of their compatriots looks set to be the big mover in the betting for the $100,000 Taylor Mile.

Interdominion trotting champion Sundon's Gift and 4-year-old pacing stars Captain Joy and Bonavista Bay arrived in Auckland on Sunday to headline one of the strongest autumn racing carnivals brought together in the city.

Sundon's Gift is here primarily for the $250,000 Canam Rowe Cup on Friday week, but the 4-year-olds are chasing a lucrative double starting with the Taylor Mile followed by the Messenger.

While the trio arrive at a time when the local ranks are not as strong as usual, two of them already face huge obstacles.

Sundon's Gift has a 30m handicap in his Alexandra Park race-night debut and while most of his open-class rivals are off the 20m mark, he will still need to be close to his best to win.

He will have the advantage of having had a look at the track though as he heads to the Alexandra Park workouts today, more than likely to trial against the intermediate pacers.

Captain Joy, who was the Derby dominator in Australia last season, could have been one of the favourites for the Taylor but any chance of that evaporated when he drew the outside of the second line yesterday.

He now looks set to start close to double figures - even allowing for the co-mingling of the pools with Victoria - while Bonavista Bay, who is lesser known in this country, will be among the favourites.

The giant pacer returned with a win in his native Victoria last Thursday and has drawn three on Friday night, a huge help as being handy is often so important in sprint races at Alexandra Park, especially in a capacity field like the one drawn together here.

The favourite for the Taylor Mile will be Tintin In America, whose connections turned down an offer of close to $800,000 for him last week.

The speedster hasn't been seen since his Auckland Cup second last month and will start from directly behind Bonavista Bay at two on the second line.

While the Australians will add further glamour to the meeting and increase interest and, therefore, betting from Australia, there is also a huge South Island invasion coming north.

The ever-present Mark Purdon assault will be joined by big names from the Robert Dunn, Paul Nairn, Tim Butt and Brendon Hill stables as well as others, combining for one of the better betting meetings carded at Alexandra Park in recent years.