Racing: I Can Doosit set for glamour trot

I Can Doosit (1), driven by Blair Orange. Photo / Greg Bowker

The Australian trainers taking on Kiwi superstar trotter I Can Doosit tonight should beware - Mark Purdon hasn't been home all week.

And that spells huge trouble for his rivals in the A$125,000 Australasian Trotting Championships at Melton tonight.

I Can Doosit is the $2 favourite for the group one trot after easily winning his heat last Saturday but trainer Purdon admitted to the Herald he wasn't actually that happy with the gelding's performance.

"He didn't trot perfectly last Saturday but I can tell you he will be a lot better horse this week," said Purdon.

"He is as good as I have had him."

Which means I Can Doosit may be about to prove just how potent trainers like Purdon can be when they can concentrate on just a few horses.

These days Purdon is an interisland and sometimes transtasman business, with horses racing at several tracks most weekends.

While they are all trained and fed to his exacting standards, it is when the elite trainers - and there are none more elite than Purdon - can dedicate an entire week to just a few horses and hone them for a major race that the real horsemanship comes out.

And that has been the case this week, with Purdon spending the entire week in Australia with I Can Doosit, Our Major Mark and The Sleepy Tripp.

That should see the Purdon polish so important to trotters on I Can Doosit tonight and he should win the glamour trot and cement his role as New Zealand's leading chance in the Interdominions next month.

But Purdon admits tonight won't be quite so easy for his other two charges, both of whom face starting from the outside of the second line in their group one assignments.

"Major Mark is going to need a lot of luck because the other favourites in the Derby look like being on the speed and being only 2240m it doesn't give us a lot of time to get around them," said Purdon.

The Sleepy Tripp starts off the unruly in the A$425,000 Hunter Cup and is bouncing back after a slow start to his Australian trip.

"I think he got knocked by the heat when he first got over here but he has started to turn around this week," said Purdon. "Whether that is enough in a race where he is going to settle a long way from the leaders is the big question. But I think he can improve this week."

That makes him worth at least an each way investment since he was $16 with bookmakers last night and does save his best for staying races, having won a New Zealand Derby, run third in a New Zealand Cup and second in the Victoria Cup.

This Hunter Cup is a baffling one as you can make a case for not backing any of the favourites.

Favourite I'm Themightyquinn is the horse to beat but faces a 10m handicap and has a new driver, often a recipe for disaster in the biggest races.

Smiling Shard is only a 4-year-old who has never won in open class while Power Of Tara knows more about getting beaten than that poor bloke Sonny Bill Williams fought last Saturday. And then there is Stunin Cullen. With the right run he is brilliant but those who took the short odds about him in the New Zealand Cup will be loath to back him at anything shorter than $7 tonight after he drew the second line.

I'm Themightyquinn is the best winning chance but it is such an open race and with so many of the favourites having recent convictions, maybe The Sleepy Tripp with a week of Purdon polish on him is worth the risk.

Kiwi assault

* Eight New Zealand pacers chase group one glory at Melton in Victoria tonight.

* Mark Purdon has runners in all three big races, headed by I Can Doosit.

* The Sleepy Tripp is his best blowout chance in the Hunter Cup.

* Pukekohe pacer The Gold Ace is favourite for the A$200,000 Victoria Derby.