KEY POINTS:
Every rival trainer in tonight's Auckland Trotting Cup is hoping Flashing Red gets locked away on the markers - except Steven Reid.
Reid has Monkey King spot on for tonight's $400,000 thriller and says all he wants is a frenetic pace to allow his stable star to stalk his opponents before pouncing on them in the home straight.
But the Pukekohe trainer believes for that to happen hot favourite Flashing Red has to get away from his tricky inside draw and turn the race into trench warfare.
"I know a lot of other guys are happy Flashing Red has drawn one because they hope he gets locked away but I don't want that at all," said Reid.
"The harder they go the better chance we have, especially from our draw. So I hope they go hard early and he gets off and then they just keep rolling.
"If that happens I think they will come back to us in the last 400m."
While Monkey King has developed a new weapon in his armoury by sitting parked to win races this season, he is at his most potent relaxing off a hot pace before unleashing what may be the most electrifying sprint in New Zealand harness racing.
If Flashing Red gets locked away on the markers tonight's 2700m mobile could be run two or three seconds slower than if he is up on the pace making his rivals work.
"That would be bad for us because we will be back in the field and would have to make our own luck, which doesn't suit him quite as well."
Reid says Monkey King could have taken one of two paths after last Friday's near-record run 2200m lead-up race and chose the right one.
"It was a hard run and initially I was worried it might be tough on him but it has improved him. His work this week has been great and I think he is as good as I have ever had him."
While he may be potentially the most talented stayer of the three 4-year-olds in tonight's race, Monkey King's racing style means he usually needs the right tempo to show his best, which brings luck into the equation for him in major races.
For that reason anything shorter than his $8 fixed odds price may not be value tonight, but any punter getting seriously involved in the race should at least cover themselves with a few dollars on Monkey King because of his ability to go from last to first inside 400m.
A few words of warning though: Very few group one races at Alexandra Park are won by horses coming from the second half of the field at the 800m mark. Monkey King may just be an exception to that rule.
