TROTTING - Why Rob is on the track of those missing winners

SOMEWHERE in the burgeoning files at the New Zealand Harness Racing headquarters is a list Rob Pooley would like to get his hands on.
That way, when he is asked, Pooley will be able to rattle off the list of Northland Trotting Cup winners safe in the knowledge that he hasn't missed any.
It would also help him recall when the cup was last handed over to a Northlander, because he can't recall the last local winner either.
"I don't even know how long the Northland Trotting Cup has been going. One thing I would like to know is where some of the records of times for the Northland Cup are kept, because last year we had a hard and fast track and the times were right up there," Pooley said.
"But I have no idea where to find the records. I got on the job a bit last year but since then the trail has gone a bit cold, so I still haven't been able to track down the records," he said.
The Northland Trotting Cup will be one of the feature races at the "dual-code" harness racing and gallops "Destination Summer Holiday Racing" meet at Ruakaka on Thursday, in what is expected to be one of the biggest events of the year at Ruakaka.
With a 15-race programme, a huge holiday crowd is expected to swarm to the beachside venue for the meet, which has quickly become a must-do summer attraction.
Even with 19 race meetings staged over the five days of the holiday season throughout the country, including the annual Boxing Day and New Year's racing carnivals in Auckland, there are strong fields nominated for all 15 races. But as for the Northland Trotting Cup, Pooley can guarantee one thing: it won't be a Northland horse that wins, because there isn't one in the field.
"It is always a tricky business trying to pick a winner, but Barry Purdon's horse Calibrator and Jay Abernethy's horse All In On The River would be my two picks," he said.
In the gallops, Ruakaka trainer Kenny Rae is running hot and has a long list of runners on Thursday. Locally owned Otaitai Jack won in Auckland on Saturday to add to a successful summer for the Rae stables. But his star attraction Mirkola Lass will not be seen at Ruakaka, with a date for the City of Auckland Cup tomorrow .
Mirkola Lass won the Waikato Gold Cup three weeks ago and Rae is trying to capture three big cup races on the trot - Waikato Gold, The City of Auckland and the Wellington Cup on January 26.
Nominations for the gallops at the dual code meet were to be finalised today.