KEY POINTS:
All Tiger could be on trial for far bigger targets when he headlines a massive $250,000 Pick6 at Cambridge tonight.
The speedy 4-year-old pacer is aiming for his fourth win in five starts this campaign when he faces a 10m handicap in the main race of the jackpot.
With his recent form All Tiger will be seen as a Pick6 anchor by many punters but the race will be his first ever standing start, which always adds to pre-race tension.
But trainer Geoff Small does not see that being a major factor.
"We have given him a few [standing starts] at home and he has been fine, in fact surprisingly good," said Small last night. "He is helped by the fact the next horse behind him is 30m away ."
All Tiger's recent form suggests he will have too much speed for his rivals tonight if he can make a safe beginning, especially as the small field should suit his racing style.
Considering he has looked a potential open class pacer, one could ask why All Tiger has ventured to Cambridge for a $10,000 race when he could be kept for higher stakes at Alexandra Park.
But Small says the stallion may have bigger targets on the horizon.
He could be aimed at the $50,000 Superstars Championship at Addington on October 4, a race not on the agenda for last season's best 3-year-olds, Auckland Reactor and Fiery Falcon.
"I am not saying he will make it there, but he is racing well enough to think it's a chance," said Small.
He also also has Pocket Baileyship in tonight's feature, who along with Waihemo John, looks the logical threat to All Tiger.
And with the latter's lack of standing start experience, punters would be wise to take all three of the top-rated runners in that leg of Pick6.
The chase for the $250,000 starts earlier than usual, on race four at 7.25pm, and the programme contains few possible anchors.
The first leg should fall to one of the smart 3-year-olds - Tex Bromac, City Slicker or Sterlish - while the second leg is largely devoid of form and thus very open.
Talented trio Spend Away, Ebony Chapel and Lord Roddick are must-includes in the fourth leg, while the last two legs could be cut down to two or three per race.
Meanwhile, northern harness racing officials are on the verge of announcing another major stakes increase which will be the centrepiece of a huge juvenile racing series.
Details of the plan, which will greatly aid northern juvenile pacers getting into the Harness Jewels, are expected in the next 24 hours.
