HORSE RACING - Local chance a great pub deal

Tony Erceg reckons all good racing deals are done in the pub.
So it makes sense that the decision to form a syndicate, buy a horse and name it Stabinthedark was made over an ale at one of the better known racing licensed premises in Whangarei, the Kensington Tavern.
There, the syndicated owners Erceg, Mike Springford, Peter Woods, Terry Powell and trainer Donna Logan, decided the yearling would be known as Stabinthedark and would win them bucket loads of dosh.
Turns out it was a fairly good bet, underlining Erceg's belief in nailing down racing deals in convivial surroundings.
"That's where all the good racing deeds are done. From what I can recall it was a pretty quick discussion about naming the horse, Mike [Springford] came up with the name and we all just said righto and that was that," Erceg said.
Now Stabinthedark is carrying the local colours in the Whangarei Cup at Ruakaka on Saturday, one of the two feature races in the two-day meet at the Whangarei Racing Club headquarters. The meet starts tomorrow with an eight-race card but the big two features are on Saturday, the Whangarei Cup and the final of the Stoney Bridge Triple Crown series for two-year-olds.
As it happens, Stabinthedark is now the only local horse with a real chance of picking up silverware.
The Triple Crown series title, the last of the three race series being the Oceanz Seafood Northland Breeders Stakes on Saturday, has already been secured by a horse called Rough Odds out of Pukekohe which won the first two races in the series.
Erceg is quite happy his co-owned horse will now be the centre of attention on Saturday, but is a bit wary about predicting the Whangarei Cup will return to local hands. He should know - of all the syndicate members, Erceg is the one who follows Stabinthedark with near religious fervour. Where Stabinthedark is racing, you can always find Erceg in attendance.
"I suppose it is nice to be the local horse everyone can follow but, to be honest, Stabinthedark has not been racing too well lately. I have been clocking up a few miles watching the horse, so in a way he has got to win to get some of the travel budget back." Erceg said.
To date, Stabinthedark has banked $140,800 in stakes. Among the favourites in the Whangarei Cup field are All's Well, who placed in the Lindauer Cuvee Mile in Auckland last month, and Figure of Speech, who came second in the Cup race last year. The one horse tagged as the hot runner is a gelding called Sand Hawk, trained by Bob Vance, with three wins from its last three outings. Last year's winner, Cape Kinaveral is not lining up to defend the Cup.