Cruiser only an outside chance of tackling NZ Cup

Aussie harness racing pacing star Majestic Cruiser (Art Major) is only an outside chance of tackling next month’s New Zealand Cup.

As much as young gun trainer Jason Grimson wants to return to NZ, the challenging travel issues are turning him off.

Grimson has been itching to get back to NZ since Majestic Cruiser upstaged NZ’s best pacers to win the Group 1 Messenger in Auckland in April.

“He’s still a chance and I won’t make a final decision until a lot closer to it, but it’s becoming pretty difficult,” Grimson said.

“If things fell into place and there were suitable flights, he could still go.

“You know much I’d love to go, but I’ve got to be mindful of how soon after it the Inter Dominion is and how difficult it could be getting from Christchurch to Melbourne.”

Naturally the Inter Dominion is a priority to Grimson given he won the pacing final last year with Boncel Benjamin.

In fact, he’s sacrificed a crack at the Victoria Cup for it already.

“I didn’t even nominate Majestic Cruiser or Fire Fox (for the Victoria Cup),” he said.

Grimson will still do what’s needed to keep the NZ Cup dream alive.

“He will trial Wednesday (at Menangle) from the mobile,” he said.

“He still hasn’t qualified from the stand, so I’ll look to do that the week after between races (Tuesday week) at Menangle.

“It just means if the travel plans came together well and I was happy with him, then we could go across.

“If he went, I’d love to take I Cast Now Shadow as well, but he’s a long way down the rankings.”

Majestic Cruiser hasn’t raced since winning his second Group 1 of the year in the Blacks A Fake at Albion Park on July 23.

Importantly, Victoria’s Rock N Roll Doo remains on target for an NZ Cup raid.

His plans will be finalised after the four-year-old tackles the Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton next Saturday night.

By Adam Hamilton for Harness Racing New Zealand