By MICHAEL GUERIN
It wasn't so much a southern invasion as a family affair at Alexandra Park last night.
While a plane load of 40 southern standardbred flew north this week for an assault on the Auckland Cup carnival which began last night all the southern success came courtesy of one family - the Butts.
Trainer Tim Butt dominated the night's open class features with Pocket Me and Take A Moment graduating to open class in their respective $20,000 feature events.
That was after uncle Robin Butt started the domination with City Rogue in the $25,000 Golden Mile.
While all three wins were impressive, they were also crucial pointers to the major races coming up later in the carnival.
And in that regard City Rogue may have been the most impressive.
The 3-year-old was parked briefly before being pushed back to three back on the outer in the Golden Mile and looked in trouble when still spotting the leader Hero a good start at the 500m point.
But the giant son of Holmes Hanover sprinted sharply to grab victory from Young Rufus with Rare Gem flying into third.
"I was a little worried when he was that far off them but I knew he has good speed and he actually did it pretty easy," said Butt.
The win was compensation for two unlucky performances at the New Zealand Cup carnival with the promise of more to come in the $100,000 Great Northern Derby in a fortnight.
The 2700m of that classic would appear to suit both City Rogue and Young Rufus and they will be out for revenge over their Sires' Stakes Final conqueror at Addington in Franco Heir, who will have his first look at Alexandra Park in a workout today.
While City Rogue, who was recording his sixth win from 11 starts last night, will be David Butt's key drive of the carnival, he also picked up a pretty handy catch drive last night.
He will partner Take A Moment in the two feature trots in the next fortnight after the gelding's gutsy victory last night.
Take A Moment made punters sweat for their small dividend when parked for most of the 2700m trip and only got the deciding stride in on the line over Zeal.
Take A Moment was driven last night by regular reinsman Anthony Butt, who is committed to Lyell Creek for the rest of the carnival so will hand the reins over to cousin David.
"He is a dumb sort of horse and that is why he only did what he had to tonight to win, but he is getting better all the time," said Anthony Butt.
"While he is very good I think Lyell would be too tough for him next week, although a lot of going to depend on the handicaps."
Take A Moment is likely to get at least a 20m and possibly 30m starts from stablemate Lyell Creek next week and their clash is now shaping as one of the highlights of the star-studded carnival.
Another horse Anthony Butt has had to give up is last night's impressive Summer Cup winner Pocket Me.
The 5-year-old continued his vastly improved form this season with a passing lane victory that saw him graduate to open class and confirm his place in next Friday's $250,000 Auckland Cup.
He will be driven by young gun Mark Jones, who handled him perfectly last night. Anthony Butt has chosen to stick with defending Auckland Cup winner Happy Asset.
"I thought Pocket Me would be the better of our two hopes in tonight's race because of the conditions but I still think Happy Asset is definitely the better of our two hopes in the cup.
"The 3200m will suit him better and he has proven he can pace close to 4:00, which is what he will have to do next week."
Jones utilised Pocket Me's manners to take a trail behind Sweet Talking Man early but that soon disappeared as Neil Brady shot the leader out to an eight-length lead.
When he hit the wall at the top of the straight Jones pushed Pocket Me through the passing lane to easily hold out favourite Agua Caliente.
"I drove this horse at this carnival last season and he is 10 times the horse now," said Jones. "He will be a good drive because he follows speed well but it will still be hard up against a field like he is going to meet next week."
Agua Caliente was a touch disappointing in not being able to catch the winner after a perfect run, but the Summer Cup has traditionally been a front marker's race and Agua Caliente will be off level marks with last night's conqueror in the cup on Friday.
Of the remainder, The Tough Nut caught the eye when running on well but the Auckland Cup picture should be a lot clearer after Miracle Mile winner Holmes D G trials at Alexandra Park today.
Harness racing: Southern family makes no Butts about scoring wins
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