Pacing star Akuta, who was originally considered for the Summer Cup at Addington on Sunday and the Invercargill Cup will be pointed to the $60,000 Franklin Cup on New Year’s Eve with a possbile leadup at Cambridge the previous week.
“He had a couple of light weeks with jogging or light work on off days,nothing much,to freshen up from the Cup meeting where he had had hard races and we thought in the end the Invercargill Cup and Addington this week were just a bit too soon for him. So Self Assured will go to Invercargill and he will head north.”
The Purdon stable will have a smaller than usual Auckland squad but the Greenlane Trotters Cup also on the 31st looks an ideal race for Oscar Bonavena,no stranger to Alexander Park though the $50,000 David Moss at Invercargill for the same stake may also hold appeal.Both are Discretionary Handicaps.
Self Assured is poised to take out the Summer Cup on Sunday.
“He’s the same as ever, proving us wrong ” Nathan quipped after “JImmy’s” sensational defeat of Akuta in the NZ Free for All at an absurd price considering he was one of the two best performed horses in the race.
“He is doing his thing and seems fine. Beach Ball I expect to make a race of it though. The smaller field probably helps Jimmy like it did in the FFA and he is probably better over these sprint distances at this stage of his career”