The sometimes brilliant and erratic pacer was at his worst in his last start at Addington on March 4 when galloping out of contention.
Punters could be forgiven for thinking it was Tiger Thompson adding to his long list of raceday tricks. But that was not the case. The mishap was found to be the result of losing a shoe after the start.
If Tiger Thompson can get around Wyndham racecourse with his shoes tacked safely to his feet he should be exceptionally hard to beat in tomorrow's Wyndham Cup.
"If he can't compete with that lot, even off 30m, he would be in trouble," trainer Brad Mowbray said.
"We trialled him after his last start just to get a run because he could have been a bit fresh, too, and he trialled super. I was really impressed with his trial."
Only a nose separated the winner, Mongolian Storm, and runner-up Tiger Thompson at the Rangiora trials 10 days ago. The pair sped up the straight on a 55sec last 800m and 27.4sec last 400m.
Mowbray will be hoping Tiger Thompson can run those kind of splits at the end of tomorrow's 3200m standing-start race. He will be stepping up to harness racing's ultimate distance for the first time.
"I don't think it will worry him, I really don't," Mowbray said.
He is more concerned about
him getting away from the tapes cleanly.
"To be fair to him, it will still only be his second stand [start], so he is still a bit questionable".
The Mowbray stable also has Four Starzzz Shiraz in the Wyndham Cup.
"He is keeping in touch with the country cup series and we thought if we could get him in there, and he went a super race in the final, he could get a cut of the prize money."
Pass The Speights looks one of the best chances to fend off the Canterbury raiders. He steps back in class after chasing home More The Better in last weekend's Northern Southland Cup.
The group 3 Kindergarten Stakes looks like a case of another 2yr-old feature being dominated by the Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen stable. Its three runners all competed in the group 3 Sapling Stakes.
Winner War Dan Delight is perfectly drawn to make it back-to-back feature wins. Jack Jones broke in the Sapling Stakes but a good trial since suggests he will pose a danger. Though he won impressively last weekend, Another Masterpiece is expected to be the third-stringer of the Purdon-Rasmussen trio.
Star 3yr-old The Dorchester had to be euthanised earlier this week. It is understood the horse suffered a ruptured bowel. The Mitchell Kerr-trained pacer won five of his seven starts and set an all-comers record of 2.52.5 for 2400m (mobile) at Ashburton.
