Robbie Burns's surprise acceptance doesn't change the composition of the field greatly because he is on the unruly but the inclusion yesterday of rating 80 pacer Imola does.
He has drawn alongside Lazarus at barrier five and has forced a second line to be drawn, with Dream About Me the unlucky sole horse to cop that position.
There are always going to be winners and losers in barrier draws but Dream About Me's case is extreme as once Imola was announced in the field she only had a 9 per cent chance of drawing the second line marble, which is akin to being placed off a handicap or on the unruly.
As one of the best standing start pacers in the race and an effortless race record Auckland Cup winner she would have been hugely popular on the place tote and with exotic bets and while her barrier by no means ends her chances, the reality is it shouldn't have happened. Because Imola is simply not good enough to start in a New Zealand Cup and hasn't earned that right, although you can't blame his connections for accepting.
A speedy but battling mid-grade pacer who has been tested and failed against the best horses already, the five-year-old hasn't won since an $11,000 grass track race at Rangiora last December and has been unplaced in all five starts this season.
But his connections have already paid $2700 in entry fees, money they would have lost had they not accepted. By starting they have to pay a final $11,500 acceptance but get a $15,690 starters fee, so basically starting in the race returns them $4190, rather than writing off the $2700 they have already paid.
So their attitude is entirely understandable but in reality Addington shouldn't be encouraging mediocrity in harness racing's greatest race in the hope of more numbers to add tiny percentages to trifecta and First4 pools for punters who take the field in some legs.
"Numbers create higher turnover so we haven't eliminated a horse from the Cup unless we had more than 15 acceptors in a long time," says Addington racing boss Brian Rabbitt.
Which means what? If a one-win pacer from 100 starts wanted to start in the New Zealand Cup it could? After all, there was still one spot left unfilled for next Tuesday.
Imola is way better than that, but so too should be the New Zealand Cup and the Addington committee should have used its discretion to eliminate Imola, rather than including him and punishing a horse who does deserve to be there with a second line draw.
The fact they chose not too, while it makes financial sense to all involved, belittles the once great allure of having a horse good enough to start in the New Zealand Cup.
NZ Trotting Cup
Addington, Tuesday, 5.10pm
1: No Doctor Needed (1)
2: Seel The Deal (2)
3: Piccadilly Princess (3)
4: Buster Brady (4)
5: Imola (5)
6: Lazarus (6)
7: Jack's Legend (7)
8: Titan Banner (8)
9: Maxim (9)
10: Tiger Tara (10)
11: Dream About Me (1 second line)
12: Heaven Rocks (ur1)
13: Robbie Burns (ur2)
14: Have Faith In Me (ur3).
