KEY POINTS:
Praise The Lord will start favourite in tomorrow's $30,000 Hawkes Bay Hurdles at Hastings without having won a jumping race in 13 months.
But don't be put off by that record, even though Praise The Lord has been beaten collectively 113 lengths in three jumps starts, pulled up in one and brought down in another in five jumps races since winning the Waikato Hurdles in May last year.
None of that will matter tomorrow.
Praise The Lord's problems were caused when he was brought down in the Australian Hurdles at his next start after winning at Te Rapa.
Injuries suffered that day bottomed out his form.
"He put his back and neck out in that fall and it didn't immediately become obvious," said the dashing jumper's owner, trainer and rider Rochelle Lockett.
"I kept racing him and it wasn't until we got him home and realised the problem that things came right.
"The chiropractor fixed him up and I now get one to have a look at him at regular intervals."
All was well until Praise The Lord got down in the stalls in the Waikato Hurdles this year and put his back and neck out again.
With that fixed he has tackled two flat races since, winning them both.
Last week he overcame the open handicappers at Otaki, a run that makes him the obvious choice for this race.
Lockett says she does not have a preference for track conditions - Praise The Lord being as versatile in that area as he is between jumping and flat racing.
"There is a suggestion of rain on the way. I suppose a wet track would be okay, but it's hard to say."
She sees Fontera and Van Winkle as the obvious dangers.
"Van Winkle obviously has some weight to carry, but he's got class on the flat and that's a big help.
"He's a wonderful horse. He runs along and some are happy to sit off him and run at him late, but he'll fight you all day."
Fontera has to concede Praise The Lord 3.5kg and Van Winkle has to give him 3kg.
Fontera is coming back to hurdles after three steeplechase starts, but retains plenty of pace as he showed winning in dashing style over the bigger fences at Trentham last start.
Winning with 68kg will not be easy, but for reassurance that he will give it a decent crack, have a look at his hurdling stats - 10 starts for five wins and four placings.
Lockett says the Grand National Hurdles is a priority, but Praise The Lord's flat form may steer him away from that famous race.
"I've been thinking about what to do with him so much I need a new head.
"In two weeks there is the Wellington Hurdles, but on the same day is the Parliamentary Handicap on the flat.
"If he ran in that and I decided to give him another flat race he might miss the Grand National.
"I'll know a lot more after Saturday."
In one of the best hurdle races seen for a while, Mexican Wave, Diamondsareforever, Ravanelli and Willandra Prince add real strength to the middle of the race.
