By MICHAEL GUERIN
Holmes D G is travelling thousands of kilometres so he can move 10m.
The Grand Circuit champion is set to be a rare Kiwi raider on next month's West Australia Cup in Perth.
And trainer Barry Purdon has an unusual reason - apart from the huge money on offer - for trekking the dual Miracle Mile to the furthermost point on the Australian Grand Circuit.
"If we win he will get a 10m handicap for the New Zealand and Auckland Cups. Maybe that will help him step away," said Purdon, only half-jokingly.
Holmes D G must have been the horse to beat in last Friday's Auckland Cup except he broke and settled last of the bunch, his antics mirroring his costly mistake in the New Zealand Cup last month.
The 6-year-old makes his best beginnings when racing off a handicap but even as the winner of $1.5 million in stakes he is still off the front in our biggest two races.
Purdon wanting to give his open class rivals a 10m start in our biggest cups may seem a little odd but Holmes D G's performance last Friday night showed he is good enough to give most New Zealand pacers a 10m start and a beating - just not the 40m starts he keeps giving them by breaking.
Purdon rates Holmes D G's performance to come from so far back, sit parked and still finish fourth, promoted to third, one of the best of his career.
"He is very well at the moment and it is just a shame he won't step away in these big races.
"Half his problem is that he gets too stirred up."
To be handicapped in either the New Zealand or Auckland Cups a pacer has to win a race worth more than $200,000 over a distance further than 2400m.
Holmes D G nearly met that criteria when he won the Victoria Cup two seasons ago, except it was only 2380m then instead of the 2565m it is now.
A victory in the $A250,000 West Australia Cup over 2500m on January 19 would see Holmes D G earn a cup handicap at home.
While in Western Australia he could also have a lead-up race in the $A110,000 Freemantle Cup a week earlier, although that is a standing start.
Both races are also on the programme of Interdominion champion Shakamaker. But Australia's two other leading pacers Atitagain and Courage Under Fire will not be heading to Perth, with Courage Under Fire also a chance to miss the rich Moonee Valley carnival in February.
"They are good races and the mobile start of the West Australia Cup obviously helps," said Purdon, whose last representative in Perth was his first talented son of Holmes Hanover, Nippon Home.
"It is a long way to travel but he has done a lot of travelling and it doesn't worry him."
Before his Perth assault Holmes D G will return to Alexandra Park next Wednesday for the $75,000 City Of Auckland Free-For-All and a return clash with cup heroine Flight South and runner-up Yulestar.
Racing: Holmes D G heading to Perth hoping to earn cup handicap
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