Racing: Heart trained on NZ Cup win

Temptation is getting the better of Geoff Small when he talks about the future for pacing sensation Elsu.

After the 5-year-old easily defeated Australasia's premier free-for-all pacers in the $750,000 Mach Three Inter Dominion Pacing Grand Final at Alexandra Park on Friday night, Small had some tough decisions to make.

Elsu is the first New Zealand harness racehorse to break the $2 million barrier, reaching that mark at the relatively young age of five.

The Falcon Seelster entire has had 46 starts for 26 wins and nine minor placings, and his racing and stud future are enormous.

Winning the Inter Dominion clinched an automatic invitation to the US$800,000 Breeders Crown Pace in November in Canada.

But Small really wants to win the $400,000 New Zealand Cup in Christchurch in November. He has tried twice with Elsu and been denied both times by Just An Excuse.

Small grew up in Christchurch watching some of the legends of New Zealand harness racing competing in the NZ Cup and it's an event he wants to win.

Another possible option could be a hit-and-run raid to the United States in August to compete in the US$500,000 United States Pacing Championship at the Meadowlands, New York.

An American campaign with Elsu does not faze Small as his brother Ian, his stable foreman at Patumahoe, worked at the Meadowlands as a training assistant for leading owner Joe Muscara.

"I'll sit down with the owners of Elsu in a couple of weeks' time and discuss our future racing plans with him," said Small.

"He hasn't had a lot of racing and is only a 5-year-old so he still has another couple of years racing ahead of him or we could retire him to stud right now.

"At the moment Elsu would be the hottest property in Australasian harness racing and he would create a lot of interest and support from breeders if he went to stud.

"Ideally I'd like to bring him back for one more racing campaign but really focus on a handful of Grand Circuit races in New Zealand and Australia.

"If we go to Canada for the Breeders Crown that means missing out on the New Zealand Cup.

"My main concern about travelling him to Canada or the United States is that we will be travelling out of our winter into their summer and Elsu could struggle to adjust.

"He'd have a winter coat and the other horses would have a summer coat. I'm not saying it would be difficult to overcome but some horses can adapt and others can't.

"Elsu's a very valuable proposition as a stallion at stud and if we travelled up to the United States and Canada and he failed to fire that could damage his stud career.

"I know he'd fly around a track like the Meadowlands and Woodbine. It would be interesting taking on their top free-for-all horses.

"A lot of the leading American and Canadian horses are retired to stud at the end of their 3 and 4-year-old racing years.

"They are conditioned to race over one mile as it's the only distance they race over in Canada and the United States.

"But back here in New Zealand and Australia we race from a mile upwards to 3200 metres from a mobile and standing start.

"The final decision on what we're going to do with Elsu will be made by the owners. I grew up in Christchurch and the New Zealand Cup is the race I've always wanted to win as a trainer."

Elsu swept through the 2005 Inter Dominion Carnival unbeaten, saving his best run for the Grand Final.

Regular driver David Butcher settled him at the back of the field before sweeping forward three wide around the field to sit outside outstanding Australian-trained pacer Sokyola for the last lap.

When Butcher asked him to sprint at the 600 metre mark the race was over. Elsu lengthened stride and surged clear of the field - to the delight of the huge on-course crowd.

Elsu scored by 3 1/2 lengths over Sly Flyin with a further half length back to Just An Excuse.

The 2700 metres was cut out in 3.21.2 (mile rate 2.00.1) with closing 800 metre and 400 metre sectionals of 56.9 seconds and 28.4 seconds.

In the space of five weeks Elsu has gone from the home town Grand Circuit pretender to the Australasian Grand Circuit champion.

Elsu had the reputation as an Alexandra Park champion as he had failed to deliver at Addington Raceway in Christchurch and Harold Park, Sydney.

That only-at-home theory was destroyed when Elsu despatched his rivals in the $450,000 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley in February.

The chunky entire was the form horse of the series and while many waited for him to falter it was the opposition who didn't match up.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY