KEY POINTS:
If you want to make Paul Kerr laugh try telling him Pay Me Christian is just a speedster.
The Canterbury trainer is sick of the, admittedly ever-decreasing, doubters who question the stamina of his stable star, something he hopes to finally put to rest in the A$110,000 ($127,000) Treuer Memorial at Bankstown tonight.
Right from the time he paced 1:55 in his first start as a juvenile Pay Me Christian has been dubbed a speed freak, a tag boosted by his recent 1:52.8 Australian mile record.
And even when he has won a group one staying race, last season's New Zealand Derby, it was a sprint home.
So while his staying record pales compared with his sprint victories, Pay Me Christian will have no fears over the 2540m tonight.
"Oh God no, that isn't a worry at all," said Kerr. "He is a great stayer and always has been. You have to be to pace the sort of mile times he has, because that is sustained speed. And even before he came to Australia he paced 2600m in 3:11 at Addington on a cold night."
Pay Me Christian was a stunning fourth in last Friday's Miracle Mile after working very hard over the opening 600m.
He then trailed eventual winner Be Good Johnny, pulled out on the turn and only lost second in the last 50m.
Driver David Butt's aggressive tactics in both his Australian starts this campaign have made an impression on his rival horsemen and most expect him to power his way to the front tonight.
Around the flat Bankstown track, where making ground or even keeping up on the bends is difficult, that would be a race-winning advantage.
"I think our tactics will be pretty obvious," said Kerr. "This is a leader's track and if he is in front then any horse who can come around him and win will have to be something special."
The only horse in tonight's race with a realistic chance of sitting outside Pay Me Christian and being competitive is Interdominion champion Blacks A Fake.
He bounced back from an interrupted spring campaign with a slashing second in the Miracle Mile and will be much better suited by the extra distance tonight.
He has come through that race well and trainer-driver Natalie Rasmussen is quietly confident the improvement in Blacks A Fake has him ready to win even if he has to sit parked.
"He is a great horse and I think he might be the best horse on the Grand Circuit at the moment," said Kerr.
"But when Pay Me Christian leads he runs such quick sectionals it would be very hard for any horse to sit parked outside him and win."
Punters taking trifectas should include Make Me Smile, who was beaten in a free-for-all at Harold Park last Friday but looks set to trail the leader and should be close at the finish.
Safely through tonight's race, Pay Me Christian will be flown to Perth to contest the A$200,000 Golden Nugget in a fortnight before returning home for a spell.
* Pay Me Christian isn't the only Kiwi pacer with a chance at major Australian spoils tonight, with Foreal well drawn in the A$50,000 Cranbourne Cup.
The high class mare starts from barrier three but the New Zealand TAB will not be taking bets on the race as it starts at midnight, when Trackside goes off air.
