Whenever members of the All-Stars team venture south, they tend to dominate so expect that to continue at Invercargill on Sunday, especially with stable principals Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen also on the trip.
They have runners in two of the legs of the first quaddie and as usual, they are 'must haves'. The other two legs are less clearcut.
The Motor Central two year old Mobile 1700 kicks off the quaddie with Make Mine Diamonds and Purdon from three, Bare Knuckle and Matt Anderson from five, and Sicario and Rasmussen from six, all down to sport the blue silks with silver grey stars.
Sicario, only male of the trio, impressed in his 2000 metre trial at Addington on Monday and looks the best of them. After tracking Cole Porter throughout, he closed nicely in the straight, stopping the clock at a tick over 2:30. In her heat, Make Mine Diamonds established her credentials when sprinting the last 400 metres in 27.7 to win in 2:32.8.
Bare Knuckle trialled in a bigger field against all ages, drew the outside, raced in midfield and sprinted home well for second. All three are needed for the first leg.
The Saddlery Warehouse Handicap Trot is the second leg and in a race half-full of experienced runners with few wins on the board, the handicap runners look the ones to have. With 85 starts, Overcast has been around more than any of them but with five wins is also the most successful. He was a winner last month at Gore and looks competitive in this type of field.
With five starts and one win each, Makarewa Rum and Takenoprisoners look the two with the most upside. Makarewa Rum, third behind Overcast in that Gore race, impressed again with his finish at Winton. Although a month away from racing, the four year old recently had a trials outing, winning a two-horse affair with a last half of 61.3.
Of Nathan Williamson's 12 winners this season, 10 have been trotters and Takenoprisoners could be the next. He has been unsighted since last winter but on the Williamson factor alone, needs to be included.
The All Purpose Engineering / Clean-Biz Mobile 2200 is for up to rating 45 pacers and leaves plenty of room for an upset. Only three runners have had more starts than Bold Ruler and the five year old has only won once but even from a second line draw, the son of Changeover needs to go in. He has placed second or third on 14 occasions, is racing as well as anything in the field, and is in the right class of race to excel.
A couple on the front row who need to be considered are Takitimu Express and Two Ply. Members of the team of Woodlands trainer Steve Baucke are racing well at the moment and Takatimu Express, with assistance from Dexter Dunn, overcame a second line draw over a mile at Winton last week to finish a close up third. In doing so, he came off the back of Bold Ruler on the turn and got past him late. From gate one in the same race, Two Ply was crossed early and shuffled four back. The regular black-booker had no room in the straight to let down but got to within three and a half lengths of the winner.
Last leg of the quaddie is the Final Touch / BP North Road Mobile for MR46 to MR55 rated horses plus any non-winner two year olds. Eligible on both counts is All-Stars two year old More Than Lucky, fourth in the group three Kindergarten on debut and subsequently fifth in his own age group again at Addington. Despite facing horses up to and beyond twice his age, in the hands of Purdon on Sunday he has got to go in.
Drawn outside him is Lilac Flash who is close to winning and with the services of Dexter Dunn will give More Than Lucky plenty to think about. The same applies to A Smart Excuse who has drawn inside More Than Better. Although he has gone 18 starts without a win, his chances of doing it in this field look real.
Purdon gets one other chance on Sunday when he drives Jimmy Mack in the Regent Cars Under $7990 At Clyde Street 2200 metre mobile, first leg of the second quaddie. He takes the reins of the in-form Butterworth Racing Syndicate-owned Jimmy Mack, trained by Brett Gray. Standing in his way will be the former All-Stars trained All Star Magician, winner of his past three, all from the beach-based stable of Graeme Anderson.
Mac Henry