Racing: Favourites draw badly for features

First-night winner Real Deal Yankee has drawn well at three in the Rowe Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Bookmakers and punters have been left scratching their heads after many of the biggest names were handed horror draws for Alexandra Park's glamour Friday night meeting.

Four group one races will highlight the stellar harness racing programme, headlined by the $250,000 Rowe Cup and the $150,000 Messenger.

But in an almost unbelievable coincidence, most of the favoured runners in all four group one races have drawn either wide on the front line or on the second line.

That means Alexandra Park, often the domain of short-priced favourites, could become a punting paradise, with some of the hotshots set to be paying much more than usual.

The bad luck for the favourites is most obvious in the Messenger, where last Friday's Taylor Mile winner Second Wind, local star Tintin In America and Aussie heroes Bonavista Bay and Captain Joy have all drawn the second line.

To make matters worse, Easter Cup winner Sleepy Tripp will start from seven on the front line.

That means picking the favourite will be almost as hard as picking the winner of the great race. The Rowe Cup sees favourite Sundon's Gift facing a second-line draw, as does young gun I Can Doosit, while Shezoneoftheboyz, who started a hot favourite in the 3-year-old trot last Friday, faces one on the second line in the $80,000 Trotting Derby.

To add to the draws' confusion, the three best juvenile pacing fillies in the country have all drawn poorly in the $170,000 Sires' Stakes Final, with Paradise City and Better Cover Lover getting the second line and Collectable cruelly drawing the outside of the front line in the 1700m event.

That means bookmakers, who often keep Alexandra Park favourites very short, could be forced to provide value on some of the big guns as they are forced to keep lesser lights, who have drawn well, safe.

Meanwhile, one big-race winner looking to put his season back on track gets his chance to do so at the Kumeu meeting at Alexandra Park today.

Tuhimata Glass won the Australasian Breeders Crown last season but has struggled to return to that level this season.

He looks well placed in the third leg of the quaddie this afternoon and if back to his best should be too good.