Racing: Form out window when lights on

If tonight's feature trot at Alexandra Park was a simple Tuesday workout Pompallier would be certain to beat Wee Annie.

But open the tote windows and turn on the lights and the gap between the pair closes enough to make tonight's race intriguing.

Pompallier confirmed he is the most talented trotter in the north when easily dealing to Wee Annie at the Pukekohe workouts last week. Yet on racenight he often finds a way to get himself beaten and Wee Annie often finds a way to win.

"The way he went at the workouts last week there isn't much chance we could beat him," admitted Wee Annie's trainer-driver Tony Herlihy. "But she [Wee Annie] is a different horse racenight. She seems to know when it is serious and she raises her game.

"While Pompallier is very good I think we are still in with a chance this week because she is such a little professional."

The pair clash in the $10,800 Southern Trust Trot where the handicap greatly favours Pompallier - he has won 14 races to Wee Annie's six but there is only a 10m gap between them.

That and the small field suggest that Pompallier should repeat his workout form of last week, with even his conservative trainer Richard Brosnan admitting he is thrilled with the leggy trotter.

"He has come back stronger than last season," said Brosnan. "He has filled out and I think he could be in for a big season, although obviously he is not 100 per cent fit yet."

Pompallier finished third in the Interdominion Trotting Final last season but then a few starts later was back to his old tricks, galloping in the Rowe Cup.

That rollercoaster has been the story of his career but Brosnan thinks those days may be over.

"He seems more settled and not as goofy and I can see him making some progress this year."

Brosnan has tended to drive Pompallier quietly when fresh in the past and says the tempo of tonight's race will dictate if he does so again.

"When you are off a 30m handicap you can't dictate the race but I'd actually like to see the pace on. Then all we will need is a bit of luck."

Such conditions would also suit Wee Annie who, while only a five-year-old, looks certain to join her older brother Buster Hanover as a group one winner in the next 18 months.

The pair are not the only winning chances in the 2700m event, with Una Bromac and Alexikov having an edge in race fitness but may lack the outright class of the favourites.