Majestic Man is the one-horse Kiwi assault on the Inter Dominions in New South Wales but at least he has the king of the series to help him out.
The North Otago trotter is the only New Zealand-trained horse in the series which begins at Menangle on Saturday night, with no Kiwi representatives in the pacing division, although Southland pacer Robyn's Playboy joined the local stable of KerryAnn Morris last week.
The Inters return after a year off because of Covid restrictions in NSW and with New Zealand's two premier clubs having pulled out of the rotation and our team down to one this year, it would be easy to question our interest in the series.
That is partly because of Covid travel restrictions, particularly returning home, the fact the finals are worth only A$500,000 (pacing) and A$150,000 for the trotters under an agreement forged four years ago. And this series also sees horses travel to Bathurst and Newcastle for rounds of heats, which has not been popular with some trainers.
Also, while the best New Zealand trotters would dominate their Australian rivals, the reality is none of our pacers would be rated superior to series favourite King Of Swing and with the late summer and autumn providing many opportunities, the Inters series doesn't have the same lure this year.