Racing: Small finds his toughest battle is off the track

Geoff Small has almost won the biggest battle he faces every season.

No, not capturing the richest juvenile race in the country. Changeover did that without hardly raising a sweat at Addington on Saturday.

Just like his stablemate Reality Check had done in the richest juvenile fillies race of the season eight days earlier at Alexandra Park.

And Small isn't worried about the premiership. He won that last year and with that goal achieved now prefers to count his success in stakes earned for his owners rather than the amount of wins he could accumulate by travelling to minor meetings.

But those battles are all secondary to the toughest one Small faces every year - the scrap to sell all the horses he buys at the sales.

Remarkably for the country's leading trainer, Small has few big-money owners, the sort who turn up on yearling sales day with bullet-proof cheque books and egos to match.

Instead he buys many of his yearlings himself and then sells them share by share, the financial equivalent of pulling teeth.

"It is one of the hardest jobs of the year but we are almost done for the season," said Small.

"While I have some great owners I don't have anybody to just buy a horse regardless of what is costs so we have to be working all the time to get anything like the horses we want.

"It is satisfying to win big races for owners who have never had a top horse before but it is also an exhausting process selling all the shares.

"At the end of the day we end up paying for the horses ourselves and then selling the shares so we end up paying interest on the money we borrow until they are all gone or we get left with them ourselves.

"Obviously we didn't have to do that with Changeover because he is owned by one of the ATC syndicates. They are well managed and great to train for."

That Small has any trouble finding owners is staggering considering his record in the last five years. Not only did he take Elsu from maiden three-year-old to being our greatest stake earning pacer but he has trained, and often selected from the yearling sales, a string of outstanding young horses like Winforu, Pullover Brown, Classical, Copper Beach, Ambro The Thug and Awesome Armbro.

The latter starts his Vicbred Series campaign in Melbourne today, meaning Small was back there last night and will fly back to Christchurch tomorrow to oversee Changeover's build-up for Friday's $150,000 Sires' Stakes Final at Addington.

That will provide a far tougher test than Saturday's PGG Wrightson Final in which Changeover bullied his way to the lead over Mombassa and then cruised to victory over Christian Warrior, with Mombassa, confirming he lacks the strength to be a top juvenile, holding third.

On Friday Changeover comes up against the two highest-rated freshman pacers in the country, Gotta Go Cullen and Fergiemack, who won his final lead-up effortlessly at Timaru yesterday.

"It will be a huge test because they were a bit better than us earlier in the season," admits Small.

"But you have to remember a lot can change with juveniles. They grow, getting stronger, some are more affected by the racing than others are.

"Changeover has just kept getting better and he loves it at Addington. The big track suits him a lot better than the ones at home.

"So maybe he will be good enough to beat those other two, although it won't be easy."

Friday's race could be the last of the season for Changeover, whose size suggests he is yet to reach anything like his potential.

"I am sure he will be a better horse as a three-year-old and even further down the track. He is winning at the moment on sheer potential and some good drives from David [Butcher].

"I think he will really come into his own in the Derbys."

That is not only good news for Small and Butcher, who have now become New Zealand harness racing's most feared combination, but for airline companies.

Because if Changeover develops into a genuine group one contender good enough to campaign in Australia next season he is likely to be accompanied by up to 50 of his owners.

He is owned by one of the hugely-successful ATC Trot syndicates which meant over 50 members, friends and family flew to Christchurch on Saturday to see him race.

"A lot of them will be heading back down this Friday for the Sires' Stakes and we even have some members of a different syndicate flying to Melbourne today to see Awesome Armbro race," said syndicate manager Rob Carr.

"This is the sort of horse who we could all have a lot more fun with."

No small change
* Changeover wins the richest juvenile pacing race of the season.
* He led throughout to down fellow northern pacer Christian Warrior at Addington on Saturday.
* That capped a huge week for trainer Geoff Small, who won the richest fillies pacing race just eight days earlier.
* Western Dream completed a northern double by taking the Nevele R Fillies Final