By Michael Guerin
A slight cold has caused a rethink of tactics for wonder horse Courage Under Fire today.
The unbeaten pacer will be at un- backable odds to break the record for consecutive wins by a New Zealand racehorse by posting his 20th victory on the Gold Coast today.
The 3-year-old race was programmed especially to attract Courage Under Fire to the Queensland track which is just kilometres from the home of his millionaire owner Greg Brodie.
"While it will be great to break an 80-year old record this race really is for Greg, who has spent so much money in harness racing," said trainer Bruce Negus.
While one record looks a certainty, Negus and driver Colin De Filippi have had a change of plans about chasing the Australian age group mile record on 1:55.4.
The Gold Coast track is very fast and if Courage Under Fire was given his head he would easily erase the recently set mark.
But Negus says a slight cold Courage Under Fire has picked up in the last few days means the mile record is not a priority.
"He has just got a sniff of a cold which he would have picked up from the change of climate and the travelling up from Sydney on Thursday," said Negus.
"If the race pans out to be a fast one then the record is still on but we won't be chasing it hard."
Courage Under Fire has also put on weight since arriving in Queensland and will be better for the run.
While he enters the race slightly below peak, none of his rivals are of Derby class and even from his outside draw his only threat appears to be interference.
Carnival winner a raffle
The big winner at this year's Auckland Cup carnival may not even be the Cup winner.
Sticking with the theme that proved so successful at the Auckland Cup carnival the Auckland Trotting Club will run a high-stakes raffle for sponsorship of the revitalised carnival.
The club has already attracted the first of 30 sponsors who will pay $10,000 for a ticket in the club's Cup carnival sponsorship raffle.
All 30 tickets will go into the draw for sponsorship rights, with the big prize being the naming rights for the entire carnival as well as the $250,000 Auckland Trotting Cup.
That will turn one firm's $10,000 investment into a huge advertising coup, with other sponsorships including those for the Great Northern Derby, National Trot, City of Auckland F-F-A, Challenge Stakes and Cardigan Bay Stakes.
Every ticket will win the right to sponsor at least one race, along with a host of secondary advertising options, racenight function privileges and a table at the Cup ball which is expected to attract 600 guests to the Sheraton.
But the most radical change to the carnival is that it will be run for the first time before Christmas.
In the past the Trotting Cup carnival has clashed with the Ellerslie Cup and Derby carnival.
But the ATC carnival will start on December 10, with the Cup on the 17th and the final night on the 23rd.
By moving the carnival forward the club expects to attract huge interest from businesses looking to hold their Christmas functions.
Racing: Champ's record bid put on hold
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