While teams of Southern horses head to the glitz and glamour of New Zealand Cup week at Addington, Brad Mowbray will send his classy pacer in the opposite direction.
The trip south from his Christchurch base will mean his star will miss the pressure-cooker atmosphere of Cup day in preference for an easier assignment in race 5 tomorrow.
``He has only had one trial but it was either Cup week, which I thought was a bit rich even if he had had a couple of trials. But then even after Cup week there was not much around for him,'' Mowbray said.
The way Tiger Thompson trialled at Rangiora last week, he would have not looked out of place at the Cup carnival.
The horse was unleashed from last by driver Sam Ottley on a 56.3sec last 800m to win under a hold against three opponents.
Perhaps the most important thing to notice about the effort was the previously wayward Tiger Thompson was seen pacing and behaving beautifully throughout the race.
``He is a lot more sensible now. He seems to have learned a lot from last year and seems a lot more tractable.''
Tiger Thompson burst on to the 3yr-old scene last season showing rare talent before his season faded with three unplaced runs in the Northern and New Zealand Derbies and the Harness Jewels.
The 4yr-old will be driven by Matthew Williamson for the first time in tomorrow's race.
The pair's main danger looms as last season's Otago 4yr-old mare of the year Hopes And Dreams, driven by Dexter Dunn.
The remainder of Williamson's book of drives is headed by the Brent McIntyre-trained Captain Thunderbolt in race 2.
The 4yr-old put in a tough performance to run fourth on debut after sitting parked in a strong race won by the smart Franco Santino.
Williamson will drive Brads Kenny in race 6, tomorrow's feature trot.
The squaregaiter will clash with likely favourite War Machine, who comes off a second placing behind stablemate Father Christmas.
