Some great battles looming at Addington

If you like a multi bet Addington’s stacked feature race programme this Friday could be the night for you.

The meeting features six Group 1s, including both the NZ Pacing and Trotting Oaks as well as four “Ace” races for the two-year-old trotters and pacers, split on sex.

Along with the Ian Dobson Memorial for three-year-old pacing boys it is one of the biggest nights of age group racing of the season with a mini-Jewels feel to it.

But after some standout results at the Cup carnival and natural attrition through tiredness or form loss some of Friday’s fields will contain short priced favourites and lend themselves to multi betting.

The most obvious is Aussie superstar Keayang Zahara (Volstead) in the $140,000 What The Hill Trotting Oaks, in which she has drawn barrier 7.

The way she thrashed all the three-year-old trotters including the boys in The Ascent she will be everybody’s multi anchor come Friday.

Not quite as short but also on plenty of multi tickets will be star juvenile Marketplace in Race 6, the Betavet Ace of Spades, while Chase A Dream (R4, No.9) will be short in the Ian Dobson even after being beaten in The Velocity as his last-start conqueror Better Knuckle Up isn’t in this week.

Punters then get to what many will see as two-horse races, in the market anyway, starting with Meant To Be versus Tarragindi in Race 1, the IRT Ace of Clubs  Trot for the 2YO Colts and Geldings.

That theme continues in the Tennant Engineering New Zealand Pacing Oaks in which Treacherous Baby (barrier 6) gets a huge advantage over arch rival Duchess Megxit (14).

The same could apply in the Renwick Farms Ace of Diamonds 2YO Fillies Pace where Stella Rouge (2) gets the head start over Captains Mistress (11).

The meeting also hosts the $60,000 Continental Event Hire Grand Duchess Trot for the trotting mares as bigger stake mares’ trotting races start to become welcome and more regular events.

For complete race entries, click here 

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing New Zealand