"He's settling in pretty good, but he's like me, he doesn't have a lot of hair," joked trainer Kelvin Harrison, a native of New Zealand now based in the States.

Auckland Reactor's native country of New Zealand, in the southern hemisphere, has seasons opposite of North America, so he now has a summer coat, not sufficient to keep him warm at Harrison's stable at Magical Acres in central New Jersey.

"He's feeling the cold a little bit. The first day he was a little tired, but he's been right into it ever since, he's feeling good."

Harrison says the son of Mach Three, who has NZ$1,484,293 million in earnings and 25 wins, will ease slowly into a racing schedule.

"He'll jog light for about six weeks, until the weather gets a little better. When we get some nice days, we'll get him out in the paddock, but he's got a real summer coat. He has two heavy blankets, plus he has a shoulder blanket, plus he has a blanket that covers his neck, so he's well covered up."

Harrison says the horse looks every bit the champion.

"He's a great looking horse. He's big and strong, well put together, stands good. Very strong-looking individual."

Auckland Reactor left New Zealand last Monday week (February 1).

Courtesy Ellen HARVEY (Harness Racing Communications, United States trotting Association)