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Trainer Geoff Small believes Monkey King has become the horse to beat in Friday night's $600,000 Auckland Cup at Alexandra Park - for two very different reasons.
Small trains half of the winning chances in the great race, Changeover and Awesome Armbro, who will start third and fourth favourites.
But while Changeover won the New Zealand Cup as a hot favourite in November, he will be a distant third to Auckland Reactor and Monkey King in punter's affections come Friday night.
And Small says that understandable.
"People know I have had my problems with him [Changeover] since the New Zealand Cup," said Small.
"His blood has been all over the place, although I think I have got it right now.
"He worked well yesterday [Monday] so he will be close to his peak."
But Small says Changeover will need to be as he has drawn barrier five, whereas Monkey King has barrier one and a lot more options.
And that is not his only advantage.
"Sure, the draw helps Monkey a lot and this is his chance to stand up and grab a really big race," said Small.
"But he also has the advantage that this is almost the end of the season for him so he can leave it all out there on the track.
"Whereas Mark's horse [Cup favourite Auckland Reactor] and my two still have the Interdominions to go after this. While that might not be a factor during the race on Friday night, it has been in the way I have trained Changeover in the last few weeks."
Knowing he has three more big races coming up in the next three weeks, Small has maintained Changeover's fitness since his fourth in the Hunter Cup on February 7, rather than screwing him down tight with testing workouts.
"It has been an interesting balancing act but he feels good. Now it will just depend on what happens during the race."
Small has not discounted Changeover going forward early and seeking the lead.
"I could see us getting the front because the Monkey King people know we wouldn't hand up.
"But it could be a very tactical race."
If Monkey King does try and hold the front throughout, Awesome Armbro becomes the "sleeper" in the race.
While he has never won a serious open class race, he has been unlucky in the last two Auckland Cups.
Awesome Armbro may lack the outright class to win the Cup but he could be the place value in a race where he is not expected to cover any extra ground.
Small's predictions are being matched by punters who have backed Monkey King into $3.40 with the New Zealand TAB, although he looks certain to start longer than that on the tote because Auckland Reactor has such a massive following and will dominate betting from the general public.
He remains at $1.40 on the fixed odds but could get out to around $1.55 on the tote.
Meanwhile, Sleepy Tripp and Bus To Harland have been the best backed runners in the $600,000 Woodlands Northern Derby, the first leg of Friday night's massive group one double.