Draw upgrades for big guns in Show Day features

Most of the big-race favourites for the massive Show Day harness racing meeting at Addington should not have to repeat the Group 1 heroics we saw on Cup Day.

Because while the winners of the Group 1s on Tuesday all came from the second line to record astonishing winning performances on Friday most of the big names who could draw well have.

The obvious exception is hot favourite Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) in the $300,000 Renwick Farms Dominion as he had to draw wide on the second line as he starts from the unruly.

But two of the other favourites for the 3200m trot have drawn handy, with Bolt To Brilliance to start from barrier 4 if the emergency Tu Tangata doesn’t get a start while Smokin Bandar coud move into the tricky barrier 1.

That would see Oscar Bonavena starting behind him from 1 on the second line.

The $200,000 Airpark Canterbury NZ Free-For-All could hardly have more different draws from Tuesday’s Cup when both Swayzee (Rock N Roll Heaven) and Akuta (Bettor’s Delight) started from the second line as on Friday the Cup winner has barrier 4 and Akuta barrier 1 over the 1980m mobile.

On what doesn’t look a particularly fast front for this grade of horse the question for punters and bookies will be whether Akuta can show more gate speed than he has usually been asked for in the past to try and hold the lead or will Swayzee, who is not a gate blazer by Australian standards, cross him and lead again.

The other Group 1 pacing favourite to get the perfect draw is Coastal Babe, who will start from barrier 2 in the Dunstan Feeds Sires’ Stakes Final.

She has shown great gate speed to win Caduceus Club Fillies Final and Harness Million as her last two starts and looks a certain leader again and very hard to beat for trainer Steven Reid and driver Mathew White.

The first of the 12 races goes at 12.02pm.

For complete race entries, click here

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing New Zealand