By MICHAEL GUERIN
The dangers of fixed odds betting were hammered home to Cigar's supporters yesterday.
The impressive southern 5-year-old was the big loser when the barrier draw was made for Friday night's $250,000 Sky City Auckland Trotting Cup.
Cigar was unlucky enough to draw the second line in the cup from where he will need a miracle to win.
Because of the configuration of the field, with three horses off handicaps and Agua Caliente unruly, only two of the remaining 11 starters could draw the second line. Those two were Pocket Me and Cigar.
The second line is particularly harsh because it places Cigar and Pocket Me little better off in the handicaps that 10m markers Happy Asset and Breeny's Fella. And they could even work out being worse off than those group one winners.
Because of the horses on the 10m mark Agua Caliente, Cigar and Pocket Me will all have little room to move in at the start, hardly ideal for tardy beginners Agua Caliente and Cigar is particular.
While the draw will be an unwelcome blow to the Cigar camp it won't do much for his supporters' sense of humour either.
After some blistering workouts last week the TAB took a mountain of money on the Brian O'Meara-trained stallion.
He was at $10 in the fixed odds market before the draw but was out to $12 last night and would be even longer if the TAB did not have to keep him under the odds because of all the money invested on him. He is likely to start over the $15 mark on Friday night.
While the chances of Cigar and Pocket Me were hit hard by the draw, both Holmes D G and Courage Under Fire drew well.
Holmes D G shortened to $4.50 after drawing barrier five and is likely to start from four once emergency Flight South comes out. While Holmes D G's standing start manners are still suspect he is better off bobbling from a handy draw than he is bobbling from a wide one and if he does manage one of his safe beginnings then he will be perfectly placed.
Courage Under Fire, having his second standing start in the cup, won't even remember the first, which came back in his all-conquering juvenile days.
He arrives in Auckland tomorrow a $8 chance to become the first Australian-trained winner of the Auckland Cup since Gammalite in 1981.
Yulestar remained the favourite at $3.50 yesterday after a $5000 bet placed on him on Saturday, with Agua Caliente the only other pacer under double figures at $7.50.
After the draw Pocket Me had drifted to $15, nearly double his quote of $8 immediately after winning the Summer Cup last Friday night.
His stablemate and defending cup champion Happy Asset, who trainer Tim Butt rates the better of his two chances, is at $16.
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Mac De Stroyer was the only big gun withdrawn from the cup yesterday.
Trainer Todd MacFarlane was forced to pull his stable star out of the feature after he developed an upper respiratory infection.
"We are going to give him a week off so we can treat it and hopefully he will be able to recover quickly and we can look at races like the Hunter Cup in February," said MacFarlane.
The withdrawal of Mac De Stroyer and Bogan Fella last week has allowed four horses ranked below open class into the field but punters shouldn't let that put them off - Kate's First was class seven when she won the race three years ago.
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Lyell Creek will start at Alexandra Park on Friday night with a little help from a stablemate or two.
The $30,000 Challenge Stakes was in jeopardy of being scrapped after Lyell Creek, his hot-to-trot stablemate Take A Moment and Mountain Gold scared most of their opposition away.
Enter stablemate three - class one trotter Are You Sure. Trainer Tim Butt put him in the class six and faster feature to boost the numbers and the Auckland Trotting Club decided to stage the race.
While Are You Sure has more chance of learning to roller skate than he does of beating Lyell Creek, the move makes sense and saves the ATC from losing one of the highlights of the carnival.
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The class two race on Friday night has turned into a mini-Derby.
The $15,000 last leg of Pick Six has drawn GN Derby favourite Francop Heir as well as other leading 3-year-olds I'vecomealongway, Hero, Taihape Tickler and Areeba in a race which will be no place for your average class two pacer.
Racing: Cigar's supporters burned by difficult draw
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