Racing: Waiting for the right Moment

It is going to take more than one defeat to convince Anthony Butt that Take A Moment can't win another Interdominion Trotting Final.

It fact, it's going to take more than three.

Butt is not giving up on the millionaire trotter even though he finished just eighth in his comeback race at Alexandra Park last Friday.

The 2001 and 2003 Interdom champion had not raced for 14 months because of injury and was driven conservatively by Butt, pulled back to last when it was obvious he was going to be trapped three wide in the heat won by Delft.

Take A Moment made a little ground for his placing but will still need to improve a long way in the next 11 days to add this year's title to the ones he won in.

Butt is warning punters not to expect that improvement in tomorrow night's second round of heats, and says Take A Moment may struggle to win any heats.

But that doesn't mean he can't win the final.

"He had no chance after a couple of hundred metres the other night and we half expected that to be the case," said Butt.

"But I wasn't disappointed with him. He trotted home well and that run with improve him a lot."

Take A Moment has drawn a similar starting position tomorrow night, starting from barrier six with speedsters Martina H (1), Allegro Agitato (2) and Gold N Gold (5) drawn inside him over the 1700m.

That gives him no chance of leading and little chance of an easy trip, suggesting a first-four finish would be a good effort.

"We have charged his gear, adding some blinds to get him a big keener because it is only 1700m.

"Being a bit older he may have lost some of his speed but could be tougher so we might have to drive him that way.

"But if he draws awkwardly again on Friday he might go through the heats without winning one.

"But he could still win the final if we can get him to his peak by the following Friday."

Take A Moment's defeat, only his second in his last 22 starts, has seen him drift from $4.50 favouritism to win the title out to $7.

That would be the longest price he has being paying in any form of race since he burst onto the open class scene in late 2000.

With first night heat winners Allegro Agitato and Delft drawn well again tomorrow night, Take A Moment could drift even further.

While Take A Moment is expected to improve on his opening night failure, champion stablemate Lyell Creek may not get that chance.

Lyell Creek raced as if he was just short of peak fitness when he couldn't fight off glamour mares Allegro Agitato and Sumthingaboutmaori on Friday night and faces a a nightmare draw tomorrow night.

He will start from one on the second line, behind Young Pointer, and the best case scenario for him appears to be settling three deep.

In a 1700m race at Alexandra Park that is almost an impossible winning position, particularly during an Interdominion when the depth of quality means gaps are hard to come by.

"That draw is going to make it really tough to win but at least he should finish close up and gets enough points to set us up nicely for the final."

Butt says he will wait until after Friday's last round of heats, and maybe even Saturday night's barrier draw, before deciding which trotter to drive if they both make the final.

"I don't have any preference at the moment and at this stage the main priority is getting them to the final."

As if the two millionaire trotter drawing poorly was not bad enough Butt has to try and overcome the outside barrier draw with Mister D G in tomorrow night's opening pacing heat.

The former Hunter Cup winner thrilled Butt and his brother Tim, who trains all three Interdom candidates, with his third behind Sokyola on Friday after a slight injury scare a week before.

"He went great but he will have to go well again just to get close to them from the outside of the gate," admitted Butt.

"Still, we have three horses who are all on target for their finals so we are not panicking."

Wrong moment

* Take A Moment suffered one of his worst defeats on the opening night of Interdoms.

* That saw him drift from favourite for the trotting series to a $7 fifth favourite.

* His driver Anthony Butt says he was not disappointed by the performance.

* Take A Moment and stablemates Lyell Creek and Mister D G all face tricky draws in tomorrow night's second round of heats.