By MICHAEL GUERIN
STOCKHOLM - Anthony Butt sidled up to his old mate yesterday and gave his head a gentle rub.
"We have got our work cut out now, buddy," said the Canterbury reinsman.
He was talking half to himself and half to Lyell Creek.
Lyell, looking his usual relaxed self if a shade rawboned, nuzzles into his boss.
It is still only just after seven in the morning on the outskirts of Stockholm yet it has been light for four hours.
This is just one of the many differences New Zealand's greatest ever trotter has had to adjust to in the past month.
"Come on mate, we have got work to do," says Butt as he slides the shafts of the short Swedish speed sulky over Lyell Creek's rump, readying him for another day at their new office.
Butt's words are a monumental understatement.
They definitely have work to do.
Because while Butt and Lyell are a team, so far only one half of the team understands what lies ahead this Sunday.
Butt knows they have to climb trotting's Mt Everest; Lyell is going to find out the hard way.
Butt and Lyell Creek must take on the world's best trotters on their own stamping ground.
But it comes after the worst preparation of their stellar careers.
And now they have to do it from the worst possible draw.
The Kiwis lost the first battle in the war for Sunday's $900,000 Elitlopp when the barrier draws were made yesterday.
The Elitlopp is run over two heats on Sunday afternoon (Monday morning NZ time).
The first four horses home in each heat make it through to the final two hours later.
The bad news for Lyell Creek is that he has drawn the outside of the front line in the stronger of the two heats.
Starting inside him will be Elitlopp favourite Victory Tilly (barrier two) and the iron warrior of European trotting, Etain Royal (barrier seven).
That is bad.
But here is the really worrying part - the draw is not Butt's prime concern as he eyes the biggest challenge of his career on Sunday.
Of greater concern is Lyell Creek's condition, which has deteriorated in the past two weeks.
After settling in well and easily winning his first race at Solvalla in Sweden, Lyell Creek has been hit hard by his trip to Norway for the Oslo Grand Prix.
Also making a significant impact is his new Swedish diet.
"He has lost a fair bit of condition and it is taking us longer than we expected to get it back on him," said Butt.
"It is not that he is sick, just that his body is taking a while to get used to his new feed, which is quite different from what we feed him in New Zealand.
"Initially Prop [stable foreman Phil Anderson] was feeding him as much as he would in New Zealand.
"But because the feed is different over here he wasn't getting as much out of it as he would have done in New Zealand and that's why he was losing weight.
"Because of that we cannot work him as hard."
That was evident in a training workout yesterday.
Lyell Creek trotted an easy 4:35 for his 3200m workout at the stables of Torbjorn Jansson, one of Sweden's leading horsemen.
"That is not as fast as we would be working him in New Zealand this close to a big race but we have to be careful.
"Our prime concern at the moment is to get condition back on him because he will need that to cop what lies ahead of him on Sunday."
Lyell Creek's struggle to adapt to his new diet has undoubtedly dented the confidence in the Lyell Creek camp.
"I still have no doubts he is as good as these horses.
"But when you have to travel with a horse you are always on the back foot while the opposition over here are racing at home and have all the advantages.
"And these are the best horses in the world, so we are right up against it.
"In many ways I wish the Elitlopp was in three weeks because I reckon by then we could have Lyell back to the sort of form we saw at Rowe Cup time.
"But we didn't some all this way to make excuses."
Butt will discuss Sunday's race with leading local horsemen in an attempt to work out how to overcome the draw which could even cost Lyell Creek his place in the final.
"I don't know what our options are really but we have to run in the first four. We didn't come here to miss our crack at the big time."
Which means there could be a few more little pep talks for Lyell Creek between now and Sunday.
Racing: Bad draw adds to Lyell Creek camp troubles
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