Racing: Make that two for Elsu

David Butcher was prepared to put himself through the pain barrier at Alexandra Park on Friday night to drive Elsu in the $250,000 Auckland Trotting Cup.

The Waikato horseman was struck down on Friday with a stomach bug but he was determined to fulfil his driving commitments.

Butcher and Elsu combined to record an effortless victory in the Auckland Cup, overcoming a 10 metre handicap and quality opposition to make it back-to-back victories in the Group One event.

Elsu made a safe beginning off a 10 metre handicap and settled in the middle of the pack before working forward three wide to secure an on-the-pace sit for the closing 1400 metres.

Butcher pushed Elsu out onto the back of Light And Sound with 800 metres remaining before this combination produced a blistering sprint forward around the field four wide over the closing 400 metres.

Elsu stormed home down the outer of the track to win by two lengths over Oscar Wild and Howard Bromac (third).

The 3200 metres was covered in 4.05.1 with closing 800 metre and 400 metre sectionals of 57.5 seconds and 28.5 seconds.

Elsu was asked to sprint twice during the running and is clearly back in top form after a disappointing performance in the Miracle Mile in Sydney.

"I was feeling pretty sorry for myself on Friday morning and I did spend a lot of time in the toilet but there was no way I was going to miss driving Elsu in the Auckland Cup," said Butcher.

"When you get a stomach bug you've just got to cope with it and make sure you keep putting the fluids into your body.

"I was fit enough to drive and it gave me a massive buzz scoring back-to-back Auckland Cup victories.

"Things just didn't fall into place in the Miracle Mile in Sydney with Elsu and it was the right decision by Geoff [Small, trainer] to bypass the Victoria Cup and get this horse back home.

"He freshened up nicely for the Auckland Cup Carnival and his last-start run in the Summer Cup, when finishing second to Jack Cade, had me confident he was back in winning form."

The obvious disappointment of the race was Just An Excuse who made a mess of things at the start before making a sweeping run three wide around the field with a lap to run to sit outside Harnetts Creek.

Just An Excuse was under pressure at the top of the home straight and only battled.

"Just as the tapes were released he reared upwards and by the time I got him back down and pacing we had lost about 20 to 30 metres on the field," said regular driver Todd Mitchell.

"When you're starting off a 15 metre handicap it doesn't help your winning chances making a mistake like that and we were always struggling."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY