Big shake up in NZ Trotting Cup rankings

Two races, one at Addington and one in Kilmore in Australia, have had a big bearing on the latest harness racing rankings for the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington Raceway on Tuesday, November 12.

The first three from Friday’s Group 2 Lamb and Hayward Canterbury Classic were always going to gain automatic qualification for the Cup, with Tact McLeod, Franco Marek and Alta Meteor duly doing the business.

Before the win Tact McLeod was 30th in last week’s rankings while Franco Marek was 24th and Alta Meteor 13th.

With that trio confirmed in the field, along with Leap To Fame, Better Eclipse and Dalton Shard, there has been a shuffling further down the leaderboard. For instance Merlin has gone from fourth to seventh.

One big mover is Australian Major Moth. He has gone from 28th to 15th and inside the cut-off after winning the Kilmore Cup in Victoria on Saturday night.

He was part of a Jason Grimson-trained quinella along with District Attorney, who is now right behind him at 16th in the rankings. Tellingly both beat Auckland Cup winner Better Eclipse, who finished third.

Grimson is gunning for back to back IRT New Zealand Trotting Cups following Swayzee’s victory last year, and it was Major Moth’s fourth win from five starts under his care. Major Moth and District Attorney will now head to the $300,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup on October 12.

The rankings for the Renwick Farms Dominion Trot are largely unchanged from last week, though Australian trotter Callmethebreeze moves up one spot, to fourth after also winning at Kilmore on Saturday night. The Great Southern Star winner thrashed his rivals in the Group 3 Trotters Cup.

And moving ever closer is southern trotter Fiery Bandito. He has improved six places to 20th following his win in the Airpark Canterbury Handicap Trot at Addington on Friday night.
The final rankings for both the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup and the Renwick Farms Dominion Trot will be decided following Kaikoura’s meeting on Monday, November 4.

View the Rankings click here

From Harness Racing New Zealand