KEY POINTS:
Outstanding New Zealand pacing filly Lizzie Maguire is a shock withdrawal from this week's rich Australasian Breeders Crown.
The Harness Jewels winner will be scratched today after an abscess forced her out of the series which culminates with the A$310,000 ($346,000) final on Sunday.
Trainer Gareth Dixon has been handed the greatest disappointment of his training career by having to pull Lizzie Maguire out of tomorrow night's semifinal at Ballarat, a race in which she would have started a hot favourite from barrier one.
"It is a real shame because she was working so well I think she could have won the final," said Dixon.
Lizzie Maguire showed signs of the abscess last week but it appeared to have been fixed and she trialled well last Tuesday. But it flared up again on Saturday morning, leaving her lame and forcing Dixon to cancel her spot on the flight to Melbourne.
To rub salt into his wounds, Dixon had already made the trip so was left sitting in Victoria with no horse.
"It is very disappointing because I think I had her better going into this series than I did before the Harness Jewels."
Missing the series is a double blow as Dixon had kept Lizzie Maguire in work for it while the rest of last season's top juvenile fillies have been enjoying spells. "If it hadn't been for this series she would have been in the paddock, had a good long spell and could be back in work now.
"But because we kept her up for this she will now go to the spelling paddock and won't make it back in time for the first big fillies' races of the season at Christmas."
Dixon learnt his trade in harness racing as the travelling foreman for Mark Purdon's stable, where he campaigned horses all over the world without incident. "This is a first for me but at least it is not the sort of thing that will affect her career."
The filly's scratching leaves New Zealand with five pacers in tomorrow night's semifinals, with the first five home in each guaranteed a place in Sunday's finals.
The TAB will open fixed odds betting today but punters can expect plenty of short prices with superstars like One Dream, Fleur De Lil, Changeover and Lombo Pocket Watch all drawn to dominate their races.
