The race book might say Amberley, but make no mistake - Speeding Spur is the sole North Islander taking on the South's best 3yr-old trotters in the Hambletonian Classic at Ashburton tomorrow.
The 3yr-old son of Pegasus Spur flew from Auckland to Christchurch on Wednesday morning and his co-trainer John Dickie, who is usually based at Papakura in southeast Auckland, said the colt handled the flight like an old campaigner.
But tomorrow he will face a challenge of a different kind over a mile (1609m) at Ashburton as he tries to avoid getting swamped in a sea of blue and silver-grey stars.
Those colours will be on two of the Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen-trained trotters, Prince Fearless and Petite One, while the All Stars Stables will also be represented by Wanna Play.
Dickie's son, Joshua, will once again be in the sulky, and Dickie sen does not expect the colt to be in the early fight for the lead from his No 4 barrier draw.
''He hasn't got a lot of gate speed anyway,'' Dickie sen said.
''He can follow them out and, hopefully, we'll be somewhere in the running line - without being parked outside a Purdon horse will be nice.''
Speeding Spur has already showed some adaptability, winning three in a row at Alexandra Park in December before reverting to anti-clockwise racing at Cambridge last week.
That provided an easy kill against the older horses, winning by three lengths, and Dickie said the run topped the colt off nicely.
''He didn't beat a lot, but he won with a bit in hand,'' he said.
''He was 80% right when we raced him at Cambridge last week, in just an average trot. He had a decent blow and, since then, he's done really good.''
Speeding Spur came south last season to compete in the 2yr-old races at Addington where he competed against the best, recording two thirds and a fourth before running eighth back up at Cambridge in the Harness Jewels.
''He wasn't quite a 2yr-old last year. He was big and weak. He still hasn't furnished into a big, mature horse yet, but he has a big motor.
''We'll certainly know where we are this time and you've got to be here to take on the opposition.
We've got to take the next step so we came down here.''
Dickie is unsure whether Speeding Spur will stay in the South Island until the New Zealand Trotting Derby at the end of March.
''We're just going to see how we get through Saturday, but we may even head back up, freshen up and head back down for the Derby.
''It's too long to be away from home and, if he holds together, it's a bloody long season to be racing in all these races, so we've just got to pick and choose, really.''
